Serpent Child
by HappyAuriga
Summary: The Dark Lord has fallen and little Harry Potter needs a new home. Albus Dumbledore wants to leave him with his muggle relatives but the ministry interferes.
1. Chapter 1

Serpent Child

"Albus, are you sure you want to leave him here? I watched these people all day and they´re the worst muggles possible!" Minerva McGonagall looked at her old friend and superior doubtfully. "Lots of wizarding families would be glad to raise him!"

"These people are the only relatives he has left. He has to stay with them." Albus Dumbledore stooped to lay the bundle he was holding on the doorstep of number 4, Privet Drive.

"I don´t think so, Albus."

The old wizard turned around. "Cornelius! What a surprise! Shouldn´t you be organising the victory celebrations?"

"It is seen to," the young minister for magic reassured the older man. "But my most noble duty this night is to find a proper place for our saviour, of course. I will not be remembered as the minister who left Harry Potter with muggles."

"These muggles are his only living relatives," Dumbledore pointed out.

"Albus," replied Minister Fudge with an apologetic smile, "they may be that, but Lily Potter´s estrangement with her muggle sister is legend. No witch or wizard in their right mind would believe that she wanted her son to end up with that person."

"Cornelius..." the old wizard started weakly.

"Cornelius is right for once," Minerva stopped her colleague. "Harry Potter can´t stay with these people, and as I said, finding a family who will take him will be a piece of cake."

The minister nodded and took the sleeping baby from a reluctant Albus Dumbledore.

-x-

"I insist on a hearing of the full Wizengamot!" Albus Dumbledore glared at the young minister. "This," he motioned at the room at large, "is not acceptable."

"Albus, I appreciate your concern, really," replied the minister, speaking up to be heard over the wails of the baby held by a young ministry employee in the background. "But the ministry is not equipped to care for a baby for several days or even weeks! The child needs a family, and he needs it now!"

"May I remind you that he´d be sleeping at his aunt´s house, weren´t it for your interference!" grumbled the older wizard. "As I said, I insist on a hearing. Get them away from the parties, if you must. But this," again he motioned at the room at large again, "can not be allowed to happen."

"Now, Albus,..." the minister turned and looked at the man behind him for help.

"If I may, Cornelius," Lucius Malfoy stepped forward. "Headmaster Dumbledore." The blond wizard hinted a bow. "I wouldn´t try to get the child without a hearing weren´t it for the boy´s distress. Let me assure you that young Mr. Potter will be well cared for."

"I will not agree to Harry Potter be given to a deatheater!" Albus Dumbledore stood his ground.

The blond wizard stopped the minister from interfering on his account with a raised hand. "Headmaster, neither am I nor was I ever a deatheater! The minister himself will vouch for me!"

"Of course, of course, Lucius! Albus, only last week Lucius made a huge donation for St. Mungo´s. His untiring work to help the victims of You Know Who´s attacks is well known! He´s one of the best respected members of the wizarding community."

"And, as I may point out," continued Lucius Malfoy, "one of the best apt to foster one Harry Potter. Forget your hatred for just a minute, headmaster. I can offer a father and a mother as well as a brother to young Harry. I have the financial means to ensure he will never want for anything and my position within the community will grant him access to the highest social circles." He smiled.

"You see, Lucius is the best choice." Cornelius Fudge beamed at the headmaster.

"But..." started Albus Dumbledore.

"If babbling about deatheaters is your only objection, I´ll bring my foster-son home now," Lucius Malfoy interrupted. He looked at the headmaster with a broad smile and a raised brow. "Well, as it´s settled, I will be back for the paperwork tomorrow." He went over to the young witch holding the baby and took it with the certain moves of a man used to holding a child. "I got you, little one. Everything will be alright." He cooed over the baby, who stopped his racket to look at the foreign man.

"Good bye, gentlemen."

Lucius Malfoy turned in a flourish of robes and left.

-x-

Lucius kicked the door open, his arms wrapped around the now sleeping child.

"Dobby!"

The elf appeared with a crack.

"Master!"

The creature bowed, its nose touched the floor.

"How may Dobby assist Master?"

"Stop babbling and take him!" Lucius shoved the sleeping child at the creature.

"Oh! Another young master!" breathed the elf, staring down at the sleeping boy reverently. "Young master is hurt!" He pointed one of his long fingers at the boy´s forehead. "Does Master want Dobby to heal young master?"

"Don´t you dare!" cried Lucius. "This is Harry Potter. He will live with us. Prepare one of the smaller guest rooms. Make it a nursery."

"Dobby will make it a great nursery!" promised the elf and padded off towards the marble staircase leading to the upper floor.

"Dobby!" cried Lucius. "We need something practical! Don´t exaggerate! A cot and a wardrobe will do."

"No trunk for toys?" asked the elf, his ears hanging.

"A small one."

The elf beamed at his master before he proceeded upstairs.

"What is that racket about?" Lady Narcissa stepped out of the parlour. "Lucius, you should know better than to shout in this house at this time of the day! Draco´s asleep!"

"I´m sorry, love," apologized the master of the house. "I had to give Dobby instructions."

"Instructions?"

"For the boy."

"What boy? What have you done now?" Lady Narcissa didn´t wait for an answer, but hurried upstairs, following the low voice of the house elf assuring somebody that it was going to give him the most beautiful nursery. When she reached the door of the blue guest room, she stopped short. On the bed lay a sleeping baby.

"Lucius," the lady said icily, "whose is this baby? Explain!"

The wizard stood behind his wife and wrapped an arm around her waist. She wriggled free. "I demand an explanantion! Now! Where does this child come from? Who is the mother? And why dare you bring your illegitimate offspring to my house?"

"My illegitimate..." spluttered Lucius. "How can you think that of me, beloved. I will work harder to ensure you of my devotion in the future! This is no child of mine! It´s Harry Potter!"

"Harry Potter?"

"The child who was orphaned when he vanquished the Lord."

"Vanquished the Lord? And wasn´t his mother a mudblood? Lucius, why would you bring such a creature to our home?" The witch watched the house elf pick up the sleeping baby carefully and transfigure the bed into a cot.

"Narcissa, beloved! This child will be considered the saviour of the wizarding world by those fools celebrating the Lord´s downfall! Just think of the prestige that will come with fostering him!"

"I can see that," admitted the witch, "but I don´t like Draco to grow up with a filthy half-blood."

"Let´s not see our little guest as the half-blood he is, but as our ticket to the highest circles of society. The doors our money won´t open, this little guy will. Think of the opportunities for Draco!"

"You may have a point, Lucius," admitted the witch. She snuggled up to her husband and allowed his arm to sneak around her waist. "For Draco´s sake, we will put up with the little brat."

Lucius pressed a kiss at her temple. "I knew that you would understand." He beamed at his young wife.

-x-

Harry Potter slept the morning away in his new cot. The night had been exhausting for the little child. First, the ride on the magical motorbike, then the apparition to the ministry, more than an hour held clumsily by a ministry undersecretary while men quarrelled nearby and finally the apparition back to his new home, Malfoy Manor.

When the child woke, he made himself heard with a loud, irritated howl. Above his little bed was a high, white ceiling instead of the mobile of stars and snitches he was used to. Harry was in a room he didn´t know.

A loud crack announced the presence of somebody. A greenish creature, with large yellow eyes and pointed ears, looked into the cot.

"Hello, master," Dobby greeted the crying baby. "Dobby is to bring young master downstairs to mistress and young master Draco." The small servant stood on tiptoe to lift the baby out of the cot.

As soon as he was freed of his confinement, the little boy wiggled to get free of the elf. Dobby did his best to hold the baby wizard, but had to give up soon. Harry padded out of the room on his besocked feet, the house elf on his heel. Dobby hurried after the child and grabbed his hand just in time before he reached the staircase.

"Let me assist you, young master!" cried the elf and overtook the small child to proceed him on the stairs. With a lot of babbling and coaxing the elf navigated the toddler down the stairs and to the parlour, where Lady Narcissa played with her own son, Draco.

"Mistress, Master Harry is awake," the elf announced when they entered the room.

"As if I could have overheard that," huffed the witch. "Draco, darling, come here." She offered a teddy bear to the little boy, who was as blond as herself and her husband. The child accepted the toy and sat by her feet to examine it closely. "Now show me that boy."

The house elf coaxed the black-haired boy towards the witch. The boy stood in front of the woman and looked at her curiously.

"He looks like a common peasant, with his hair sticking up all over the place. Why didn´t you brush it, Dobby?" snapped the witch.

"Dobby is terribly sorry, Mistress," howled the little elf, grabbed a toy and hit himself with it. "The young master was so eager to come down here, Dobby could barely follow!"

"You will brush the child´s hair in the future before he´s allowed to leave his room. If anybody saw him like that, they´d think we neglect him! Oh no, you don´t!"

Harry had sat down beside Draco and had tried to take the other boy´s teddy bear. Lady Narcissa snatched the bear from the boy and gave it back to her son. Harry wailed at his loss. Draco watched the new boy with interest and after a little while decided he didn´t want him to cry. The blond boy held out his teddy bear to the other child.

Harry sniffed and took the toy from the blond boy. He reached behind him and took one of the toys lying on the floor and – in exchange for the bear – offered it to Draco, who took it with a giggle.

Lady Narcissa watched the exchange in surprise and ordered Dobby to bring some food for their new charge.

-x-

After Harry´s meal the two boys played with some of Draco´s toys. Narcissa had to admit they were cute together, one fair as herself, with ivory skin and nearly white blond hair, the other dark, with golden skin under a raven mop of hair.

The boys´ games were interrupted by a visitor. Bellatrix, Narcissa´s sister stormed into the room.

"It is true!" she cried after a glance at the two children. "Praise the fates for giving you such a clever husband, sister!" She bent down and picked the dark child up. "So, you withstood the Lord!" The woman, dark in colours just like the boy, glared at the child. "It won´t spare you your fate, of course," she continued, setting the child back on the floor. "Rodolphus, I and some others are going to look for the Lord. We have an idea who could possibly know about His whereabouts. Tell Lucius to be prepared to hand over the child once our Lord is back."

"This was my plan from the very beginning, Bella. It´s good to have you here." Lucius handed his cloak to Dobby and pecked first his wife and then his sister-in-law on the cheek. "You were careful not to be seen?"

"They´re hunting down His faithful," replied the dark witch. "Not all of us were assigned to work in secret for Him. I rarely go anywhere without a notice-me-not charm."

"It´s not my fault He thought I´d be more useful through my connections than my wandwork," Lucius said defiantly.

"I didn´t say that," Bellatrix lay a hand on the wizard´s shoulder. "We all know how much you achieved for Him through money and social standing. You truely are one of his most highly esteemed. Handing over the Potter brat will strenghten your position with Him even further." The witch smiled. "But I haven´t come to discuss children´s business. Our Lord gave me something to watch over and I want you to take over while I go looking for him. It´s too important to lose on my quest."

"We will be honoured." Lucius hinted a bow.

"Take it and keep it safe!"

"I´ll protect it with my life!"

"This will be wise." Bellatrix handed her brother-in-law a small, battered book.

Lucius stared at it reverently for a minute or two. "His diary? He trusted you with his diary?" he whispered finally.

"I´m his most faithful, don´t forget," beamed Bellatrix. "I will be back within the week." That said she picked her nephew up and kissed his forehead. "Whatever auntie´s reward is, she will share with you."

After a short hug for her sister and a pat on Lucius´ shoulder she was gone.

-x-

"Was that the plan, Lucius?" Narcissa asked as they sat down for dinner. "To hand the boy to the Lord when He came back?"

Lucius helped himself to some carrots. "There is no plan. A win-win situation presented itself and I took advantage. If He comes back, I am his loyal follower who took hold of the child, and if He doesn´t, I am the citizen who volunteered to foster the saviour when he was in need." Lucius smiled. "They called him The Boy Who Lived in the Prophet today."

"Dumbledore was against us getting the child," Narcissa reminded her husband. She fed Draco, who was sitting in his high chair, a spoonful of mashed potatoes. Beside her, Dobby did the same with little Harry.

"I heard that some are against it, but honestly, who would be able to give him a better home? Here he has a family, including a child of his own age. Nobody can claim to be able to give him the same. Rumour has it that Dumbledore tried to convince your cousin Arthur to take the boy, but they have seven of their own. Nobody in their right mind would give them an eighth child. The only people I could think of are followers of the Lord and none of them would speak up to get the boy from us."

"We have to make sure they find no reason to take the boy from us," Narcissa added. "Let´s make sure whoever checks on the child finds him happy."

Lucius sipped his wine before he took his wife´s left hand and breathed a kiss on her fingers. "I love your understanding for schemes, my beloved," he purred.

After dinner the couple took the two boys to the library, where they sat on a blanket with the two toddlers and helped them build a tower of wooden blocks. Both boys were enthusiastic about the activity. When the tower got too high, it collapsed. Draco howled with misery when he saw the tower fall, but little Harry clapped his hands and giggled and started a new tower at once. As soon as he had assembled a couple of blocks, Draco stopped his protest and started to add blocks with new gusto.

The game was interrupted by the arrival of a guest.

"Severus!" Lucius scrambled to his feet. "What joy to see you here! What lucky breeze carried you to our doorstep?"

"Dumbledore," replied the black clad wizard.

"Dumbledore?" echoed Lucius.

"Who´d be better to check on a deatheater than another deatheater?" Snape smirked.

"He sent you to check whether we have killed the boy by now?" snorted Lucius.

"Exactly," the younger wizard accepted a tumbler of liquor and sat in one of the armchairs. "He wants me to keep an eye on the wizarding hero." He motioned at the blanket where Harry was just knocking down the tower the boys had built and giggling like a hinkypunk.

"Why does he think I won´t throw you out of the house?" asked Lucius as he sat beside his old friend.

"He knows we worked for the same company," drawled Severus. "And he suspects that you want to avoid a public interrogation about your loyalties. Here is the deal he offers: you allow him to check on the boy through me regularly and he allows you to keep him and your reputation."

"How dare he!" cried Narcissa.

"How dare he, indeed," mused Lucius, "but I guess it is acceptable as long as none other than you will come to the Manor, Severus. When you go back, inform him that I agree. But you and no other will be allowed access to the child. Tell him I think more people would scare the boy." Lucius smirked and raised his own glass.

The other wizard raised his glass in response and drained it in one.

-x-

Christmas was just around the corner and after several weeks with the new child at the Manor things had settled down to a routine. Lucius Malfoy left the house after breakfast to promote his house in the wizarding world, or at least the part of it he considered important. Most of the days he was found at the Ministry, Gringott´s or St. Mungo´s.

Narcissa Malfoy stayed at home to look after the two boys. She made sure to spend more time with Draco, while Harry was looked after by the house elf, but other than that she didn´t treat the foster child badly. Lucius never tired to point out that the boy needed to look happy in order to buy them the prestige they were hoping for.

Harry and Draco got along well. They shared their toys and played together. They even had invented a babbling language only they understood. Lady Narcissa was not very happy about that. Her own son was more than one and a half year old now and had to speak his first word yet.

Said first word was awaited anxiously, as her mother kept pointing out what a happy moment and precious memory it had been when her own daughters had spoken their first word, which had happened to be ´mother´ for all three of them. At the mention of her daughters, Narcissa´s mother had taken to bursting into tears lately. She had been unhappy about her eldest, Andromeda, running away with a muggle for years, but the youngest, Bellatrix, being sentenced to a life at Azkaban had been a bad blow. Mrs. Black had been hoping for more grandchildren. Bellatrix was the right age, after all. Instead the young woman had gotten herself arrested after attacking an auror and his wife.

Anyway, Narcissa was waiting for Draco to speak. There was some comfort in the fact that Harry hadn´t spoken yet either.

It happened three days before Christmas. Narcissa was embroidering a handkerchief for Lucius while she was watching the boys play, when Draco picked up a teddy bear, held it out in his little hand and said "Harry!".

Narcissa was devastated. She was still crying when Lucius returned home. Not even his reassurances that this first word would raise Draco above all others of his age could dry her tears. To be honest, he didn´t really mean it anyway. The wizard had been secretly hoping for ´Daddy´ as Draco´s first.

-x-

The boys got baby broomsticks for Christmas. Harry squealed with delight when he saw it and was flying around the room within the minute. Draco watched him for a short while and then copied his moves.

Lucius and Narcissa watched the boys race around the room. Dobby was busy catching vases, cups and small statues the boys knocked over. It looked funny, actually.

"It was a good thing to take Harry in," Narcissa said after a little while. "They´re goading each other on to do better and learn quicklier. Draco´s powers will develop so much better with a second wizarding child around."

Lucius kissed Narcissa´s temple as they watched the boys race.

"I told you it was a good move to foster the boy," Lucius nibbled his wife´s earlobe tenderly.

When the boys had had enough of their little race, they ran to the couple. Draco threw himself in his parents´ arms and Harry followed his lead. Both boys were picked up and hugged.


	2. Chapter 2

**Four years later**

"Dumbledore really is a suspicious old coot," Lucius drawled as he walked through the park with Severus Snape. "One would think he has accepted by now that I´m not going to kill the boy."

The other wizard chuckled. "He´s determined to stay vigilant until Harry´s removed from your fatal influence and safely tucked away at Hogwarts."

The two men watched the two boys chasing the snitch in the back of the park. A light blond and a black veil of hair fluttered behind the two small frames on their broomsticks. The boys didn´t only chase the snitch but also each other. They overtook each other in turn, neither of them able to gain a permanent advantage over the other. Giggles and cries of encouragement were carried over to the two wizards.

The chase ended when the blond boy spotted the black clad wizard beside his father and pointed his companion to him. The boys abandoned the snitch and raced each other to the two men.

"Uncle Severus!" both boys cried when they dismounted their broomsticks, faces flushed with excitement and effort. They hugged the wizard´s waist.

"Boys!" laughed the wizard and tousled the blond and black hair. "You´re going to knock me over!"

"We won´t!" protested Draco.

"We never would, Uncle Severus!" cried Harry.

"Did you bring us a present?" asked the blond boy.

"Greedy little thing!" laughed the potions master, but he reached into a pocket and produced a small, gift-wrapped box. "Share!"

Harry snatched the box with a quick word of thanks and ran. Draco giggled and ran after him.

The two adults laughed as they watched the two boys disappear behind some bushes.

"Any signs of magic yet?" Severus asked as they turned to walk back to the house.

"Neither of them," Lucius shook his head. "But they´re only five. Don´t forget that they grow up well protected and wealthy. They don´t know hunger, fear or pain, which trigger the first acts of magic for many children. – So, what has Dumbledore to say this time?"

The two men had reached the library and Lucius poured them glasses of firewhisky.

"He refuses to have Harry taught by Priel Parkinson. The Parkinsons were too close to our Lord for his taste."

"And I refuse to have Dumbledore stick his nose into my son´s education. A teacher good enough for the Malfoy heir will be good enough for Harry Potter."

"Don´t forget that Harry Potter is the hero of the wizarding world. This outweighs being the Malfoy heir by far. No offence, Lucius. Dumbledore says if you don´t comply I´m to remind you..."

"Tell Dumbledore that his threats are toothless," Lucius interrupted Snape. "Harry Potter has spent four years in the care of my family. He calls me his father and my wife his mother. My only son is like a brother for him. Everybody can see that the child is well cared for. Nobody in their right mind would remove the boy from this family at Albus Dumbledore´s word. Tell the old fool that the boys will be tought by Priel Parkinson. This is my last word."

"He won´t be pleased," Snape pointed out.

"It´s not my duty to please Albus Dumbledore." Lucius snorted and poured them more firewhisky. "What was in that box?"

"A gyroscope. It will change colour when they spin it fast enough."

-x-

Priel Parkinson was a wizard in his early twenties. Harry thought that the man reminded him of his uncle Severus a bit. Like the potions master, Priel was slim and preferred dark robes, but his facial features weren´t long and slender like the other man´s. Mr. Parkinson – the teacher refused to be called uncle Priel by either boy he lost no time to inform them – had a large nose and broad jaw. His eyes, the most prominent part of the face, were watery blue. Harry thought they were scary.

Lucius had ordered Dobby to prepare one of the reading chambers near the library as a classroom and the small elf had removed the sofa and armchairs in favour of a small desk and a blackboard, which he fetched from the attic. Lucius had slid his hand over the desk lovingly when the elf had shown the room, remembering his own home schooling fondly. With a wave of his wand he had turned a spare piece of parchment into a second desk.

Lady Narcissa filled the small bookshelf in the room with books for beginners´ reading and showed them to the boys. Both found the one with the picture of a dragon most interesting. Narcissa informed them that it was about the adventures of a young wizard called Draco, but refused to read the story to them. "You´ll have to read it yourselves, boys," smiled the woman.

Harry wondered whether there was a boy called Harry in the book, too. Anyway, he was determined to learn how to read as quickly as possible.

It was their first lesson, and both boys looked at their teacher expectantly. So far all they had learned was how to address the man properly.

"Our top priority is, of course, to teach you how to read," Mr. Parkinson said sternly, "but apart from that we will study how to behave properly among wizards. When you show first acts of magic we will also cover some elementary magic, but it can be years until then. First things first, thoug." The man tapped the blackboard with his wand and a long row of letters appeared. "The alphabet..."

The teacher droned on and on for what seemed like hours. Harry tried hard to concentrate, but after about twenty minutes he couldn´t follow any longer. A quick glance at Draco from under his lashes informed him that the blond boy was as lost as he was.

After the lecture the teacher made them practice writing the letter A. Harry and Draco both filled a sheet of parchment with As as quickly as possible. Harry didn´t know about Draco, but he was hungry. All he could think of was lunch.

-x-

"How are the boys doing?" Narcissa showed the teacher out after the day´s lesson.

"Master Draco is doing well. His handwriting is truely aristocratic. Very elegant for his age. His reading is not very fast yet, but he makes few mistakes. With a little practice we can soon proceed to truely important tasks, like preparing the young master for his position within society. Master Harry on the other hand..." The wizard shook his head.

"Harry never seemed to have trouble to learn," Narcissa said, worried.

"I don´t doubt his intelligence but he seems to have trouble concentrating. If your ladyship would care to have a look at his work, you´d see the problem. He starts out fine, but after a few lines his concentration wavers and his writing becomes barely readable. To be honest, I don´t know what to do. I scolded and pleaded, but to no avail."

"And his reading?" The witch asked, even more concerned.

"The same. He starts fine, but after some lines, he starts making mistakes."

Narcissa sighed. "Lucius won´t be pleased."

-x-

Lucius Malfoy looked down at the dark-haired boy sternly. He wiggled a small stack of parchment in front of the child´s face.

"Harry," he said severely. "Do you have an explanation? I´m very much disappointed!"

The boy stared down onto his shoes as if they were the most fascinating things he had seen in his young life.

"I´m waiting!" Lucius pressed.

Harry bit his lip but didn´t say a word.

"Father, don´t be angry with Harry," Draco pleaded.

"Hush, Draco. I´m speaking with Harry, not you. So? Tell me why your work is so bad." Lucius glared down at the boy. "No answer? Go to your room. You will stay there until you are ready to answer my question."

Harry looked up at the man he loved like a father with tears in his eyes. "Yes, Sir," he said in a small voice before he left the room.

Draco glared at his father angrily and went after Harry. Lucius opened his mouth to stop him, but Narcissa, who had followed the exchange in silence, touched his arm gently. "Perhaps Draco will get the answers you don´t," she said softly.

-x-

"I´m glad to see you, Severus," Lucius greeted his old friend. "I´m at my wit´s end."

"What´s the problem?" the other wizard asked curiously.

The blond sighed. "It´s Harry. He´s not doing well in his lessons. Priel is concerned, and so are Narcissa and I. We tried everything. Pleaded, asked, threatened. I can´t withold him dessert forever." Lucius smiled weakly. "He doesn´t even tell Draco what´s the matter. Can you try?"

Severus agreed. "I guess trying won´t hurt, but I doubt he trusts me more than you."

"Trying can´t hurt." Lucius echoed.

-x-

Draco and Harry stormed out of their little classroom when Mr. Parkinson declared their lessons over. They had worked all morning. Draco was laughing. He enjoyed learning to read. Soon he was going to be ready to read the story of Draco and the dragon. Harry´s mood was not so good. He had a headache, like after every lesson. Reading was exhausting, as was writing.

"Hi, boys!"

"Uncle Severus!" Draco threw himself at the wizard. Severus hugged the boy back, his eyes fixed on the second child.

"Hello Harry!" the dark clad wizard smiled. "Don´t I get a hug today?" He held out an arm invitingly. Harry stepped closer and embraced the man like it was expected. "Draco, your mother asked for you. She´s in the garden."

Draco disentangled himself from the potions master and set out for the garden obediently. Harry moved to follow, but Severus held his arm. "I´d like to speak to you, Harry."

The boy stiffened.

"Let´s go and sit down." Severus pushed the boy gently back into the classroom.

Harry sat at his desk and stared at the desktop.

"Harry, your parents are worried. Your teacher says you´re having trouble following the lessons. What´s wrong, Harry?"

Harry felt like crying. Why couldn´t they let him be? His head hurt. And he was tired. He just wanted lunch and a nap.

"Harry?" Severus insisted softly.

The boy looked up at the potions master tearfully, but kept his silence.

"Let´s try something else," said the potions master. He took a book from his pocket. There was a picture of a boy wizard on his broomstick on the cover. "Why don´t we read a bit together?" He put the book in front of Harry. "You read the first paragraph and I the second." He smiled encouragingly.

Harry looked down at the page. The letters were blurred in front of his eyes. Harry narrowed his eyes. "Ar... Ar... Arthur..."

"No, try again."

"Ar... Artus." Harry blinked. "... w ..." It hurt. Harry blinked again. "w... w..." He narrowed his eyes a little more, but the letters refused to become more clear. "Please, don´t make me, Uncle Severus!" The boy looked at the potions master pleadingly.

"Only one paragraph, Harry," Severus said softly. "Then I will read the next part of the story. Come, you can do it."

"But it hurts!" Harry blurted out. The child´s eyes went big as saucers as he realised what he had said.

"What hurts, Harry?" Severus asked, concerned.

The boy just shook his head.

"Harry, if you´re ill you may need a potion." Severus tried to coax the boy into talking. "You know that I make potions to help people, don´t you? Many of them are in pain and I help them. What hurts, Harry?"

"My head," Harry piped finally. "It hurts all the time during lessons."

"All the time?"

Harry nodded. "It starts after a little while and it gets worse all the time. – Can you make a potion for me?"

"I´m not sure," admitted the potions master. "But I can give you something to make it better for now. Come, let´s go for lunch. The potion I want to give you has to be taken with your meal." He took the boy´s hand and led him to the dining room, where he added two drops from a small vial from his pocket to his pumpkin juice.

"What was that, Severus?" asked Narcissa. The witch paused in putting vegetables on Harry´s plate. Draco stopped eating and watched the exchange.

"A mild pain reliever." Severus sat beside Harry. "Harry told me he has a headache."

"I will call for a healer this instant!" cried Narcissa. "Kindly stay with the boys, Severus." She hurried out of the room.

"Does it hurt badly, Harry?" Draco asked pityingly.

Harry nodded and pushed his carrots around the plate.

-x-

The healer, a kind elderly witch, smiled at Harry.

The boy, who had never needed a healer before, clasped Narcissa´s hand desperately. The blonde witch smiled down at the boy. "There´s no need to be afraid, Harry," she reassured the frightened child. "Madam Bluewater is a healer. She will perform some spells on you. It won´t hurt at all."

The healer smiled and confirmed the witch´s words with a nod. "It won´t hurt a bit. Come, sit on this chair for me, Harry."

Harry obeyed reluctantly. After the first spell – which didn´t hurt – he relaxed.

"Here´s the problem," smiled the healer after some minutes. "The little angel is myopic and very much so. No wonder he gets headaches after a little while of reading. Just another spell and it´s solved. Look at the tip of my wand, Harry."

Two minutes later Harry saw his surroundings clearly for the first time in his life.

-x-

After his eyesight had been corrected, Harry´s progress in lessons was amazing. Mr. Parkinson sang the boy´s praise every day. The boy was eager to catch up with Draco and worked hard to achieve this. Draco on the other hand was more than willing to practice with his foster brother. Lucius Malfoy was pleasantly surprised to find the boys immersed in a book more often than on their broomsticks when he returned home from business.

"You both have been working very hard," the blond wizard smiled at the boys. "As a reward, I will take you to Diagon Alley tomorrow and you may choose some books."

"Can we get one about a boy called Harry?" Harry asked excitedly.

"We will see if they have one," promised Lucius.

"I really hope they have one," cried Draco. "I have a Draco-book after all."

The boys had never been to Diagon Alley before, but they knew that it was the place where their parents got all the wonderful little things that made their life pleasant. This was why Draco and Harry knocked at their parents´ bedroom door at the crack of dawn the next day.

"Mother! Father! Quickly!" Draco cried merrily. "It´s morning!" Harry added.

A very sleepy Lucius opened the door and glared down at the boys. "For Merlin´s sake! It´s still dark outside! Go to bed, boys!" He rubbed his eyes.

"It´s not!" insisted Draco. "Look!"

"It is dark!" Lucius groaned.

"You can´t tell with your curtains closed," Harry pointed out, glancing past Lucius.

"You know, Harry has a point," Narcissa chuckled from inside the dark room.

Lucius growled. "Come in, you little pests!" He grabbed one boy around their waist on either side and padded back to the bed. "I will teach you to wake your parents in the middle of the night. Narcissa, kindly assist me!" That said he dropped one squealing boy after the other on the matress and crawled into bed after them. "Got you!" He started tickling the nearest child mercilessly while his wife took care of the second.

The boys giggled and yelped in delight. They tried to escape between fits of laughter, but the adults used their greater range to their advantage. Draco grabbed one of the pillows and tried to hit his father with it, but Lucius stopped him with a smirk. "Trying to hit your father, are you?" he growled and held the boy´s ankle while he tickled his sole with his other hand. Draco giggled like mad.

Harry tried to come to his brother´s aid, but his mother had an arm wrapped around his waist and the boy found himself tickled just as badly as Draco.

Lucius and Narcissa chuckled just like the boys and they only stopped when Harry was suddenly surrounded by a cloud of colourful sparks.

"Wow!" cried Draco.

"Wow, indeed," echoed Lucius.

"Congratulations, my boy!" cried Narcissa and pressed a kiss to Harry´s temple. "Your first act of magic and what a beautiful one!" She hugged Harry close.

"Was that me?" whispered Harry.

"It certainly wasn´t me," said Lucius, suddenly serious. He let go of Draco and turned to his bedside table. The wizard opened the drawer and removed a small wooden box carved with runes."Here, as you were the first to do magic, you may choose." He opened the box.

Harry and Draco were both speechless. In the box lay two small silver pendants on silver chains. Both were decorated with magical symbols and a stone, one blue and one green.

"I will write the date and act of magic you performed on the back of your chosen pendant. I, myself, and your mother as well as some other witches and wizards who love you will put protective spells on the pendant and you will wear it for your protection until you are old enough to protect yourself."

"Will I get the other one once I do magic, father?" asked Draco.

"Of course you will, son," Lucius hugged the blond boy. "So, which one would you like, Harry?"

"The green one, please," Harry smiled happily.

"Here we go," Lucius lifted the pendant with the green stone out of the box and pointed his wand at it. He then handed it to Harry.

"March, 5th, 1987; colourful sparks of light while laughing," Harry read out. "Thank you, father!"

"Now, let´s go down to breakfast and then we´ll add the first protective spells." Lucius smiled.

Narcissa helped Harry fasten the silver chain around his neck before the family went downstairs.

After informing Dobby that a celebration was in order, Lucius took the family to the private parlour of the family. The room was rarely used, only for special occasions. The walls were covered with portraits of Malfoy ancestors in heavy wooden frames. The blond wizard motioned the family to gather in front of the fireplace, above which the portrait of Xerxes Malfoy, the founder of the line, hung.

"Fathers and mothers," Lucius spoke ceremoniously when everybody had found their place, "we have come to you to inform you that the youngest member of the family, Harry, has commited his first act of magic this morning."

The portraits clapped politely and Xerxes spoke on behalf of the crowd. "What was his first act of magic, Lucius, son of my family."

"He produced sparks of light while he was laughing."

"Well done, Harry," Xerxes said proudly. "You may not be a Malfoy by blood but know that we are proud of you nevertheless."

"You approve of using the ancient family spells on Harry´s protective medal?" Lucius asked, still using the same solemn tone.

"We do," nodded Xerxes. "Proceed, Lucius."

The blond wizard bowed to his ancestor and pointed his wand at Harry. He muttered for several minutes in a language Harry didn´t understand, but the boy felt the pendant grow warm against his skin. After Lucius Narcissa added her spell, which was shorter, but made the pendant even warmer.

After the short ceremony the family returned to the dining room, where Dobby had laid out breakfast. There was a greater variety of dishes to choose from than usual, and all of Harry´s favourites.

-x-

The family flooed to the Leaky Cauldron, which was exciting for the boys in itself as they hadn´t flooed more than two or three times to visit friends of their parents´. From there Lucius led the way to Diagon Alley, the magial shopping mile.

The boys would have liked to run to and fro between the shoppers, but Lucius had taken Draco´s hand and Narcissa Harry´s. The couple allowed the children to gape their fill of the shop windows though. Lucius directed the family to the magical menagery first and then to the Quidditch shop. Only after an hour they made their way to Flourish and Blotts´ to get the boys´ books.

Harry had never seen so many books in one place, which was to say something knowing the Malfoy library. The boy gaped at the full shelves as well as the witches and wizards looking at the books. Only few of them wore imaculate robes like the Malfoys. Most wore an assortment of clothes Harry had never seen before.

"Mother, what are these people wearing?" Harry whispered to Narcissa.

"Muggle clothes," Narcissa whispered back. "Don´t stare, pumpkin. It´s not polite."

Harry nodded and concentrated on the nearest bookshelf instead. "Can you help me look for one about a boy called Harry?" he asked.

"Of course, pumpkin!"

There were dozens of books about a boy called Harry. On each cover was a picture of a darkhaired boy with a lightning bolt scar on his forehead like Harry´s. The boy thought that his mother was reluctant to buy one of these, but Harry wanted a book with the hero called Harry so badly – mainly because of Draco´s Draco book – that he didn´t stop to beg, so finally Narcissa sighed and told him to choose one.

Harry went for one of the thicker books – he wanted a long story about Harry – with the boy on the cover holding a wand surrounded by sparkles. It fit with his first act of magic after all.

"Cool!" cried Draco when he saw Harry´s new book. The blond boy held a book on magical beasts and a quidditch book. Narcissa added some more story books to their purchases.

Lucius paid for the boys´ books and one leatherbound adult book. The family was just going to leave the shop when Draco spotted Uncle Severus in the crowd.

The wizard wasn´t alone. He was accompanied by the oldest man Harry had ever seen. The stranger had a long white beard and like the Malfoys and Uncle Severus wore wizard´s robes, only in more gaudy colours than they.

"Severus! - Headmaster." Lucius greeted the two wizards.

"Lucius," the men greeted in return and hinted a bow to Narcissa. "What brings you to Diagon Alley with all the family, old friend?" Uncle Severus asked.

"It´s a happy day for the family," Lucius explained proudly. "Harry here performed his first act of magic this morning."

"Really? Congratulations, Harry!" Uncle Severus ruffled up Harry´s hair. "Has he got his amulet yet?"

Harry nodded and fished for the chain under his robes. The potions master stooped to have a better look and read the inscript. He then drew his wand and after a short nod of permission from Lucius added his own protective spell to Lucius and Narcissa´s.

"With your permission," the old wizard stepped closer to Harry. "Hello, Harry. I´m sure you don´t remember me, but I knew your mother and father. My name is Albus Dumbledore." The wizard turned Harry´s new pendant in his hand. "Sparks? My first magic were sparks!" The old wizard smiled kindly. He pointed his wand at Harry. The old man´s spell was the shortest of all, but it made the amulet the hottest.

"We´re honoured, headmaster," Lucius hinted another bow.

"Anything for Harry, Lucius," the old wizard smiled sadly. "Good-bye, Harry."

Lucius took the family to a restaurant for lunch and after that to Honeyduke´s. Harry and Draco were allowed to choose some sweets – mainly chocolate frogs because both boys collected the cards. Then they returned home.

-x-

The boys finished the book about the boy Draco and his baby dragon first, but it was nearly done, so it was less than a week after they had bought it that Harry and Draco started the book about Harry.

It was really strange. The boy in the book was not only called Harry, he was called Harry Potter! His life was very adventurous. There was an evil wizard – with the strange name You Know Who – who wanted to kill the little boy, but little Harry was protected by his parents and their friends. Those friends were a group of very interesting witches and wizards. Harry and Draco´s favourite was an old man with a long white beard. Strangely enough this wizard was called Albus Dumbledore.

The book was quite detailed. It described how the Potter family fled again and again, warned by Albus Dumbledore, who never told how he knew when the evil wizard was going to attack.

The boys spent every free minute reading. It took them nearly three weeks to reach the last chapter. Little Harry was betrayed by his godfather, Sirius Black. His parents died trying to protect him and the evil wizard gave him a scar when he tried to kill Harry. The Minister for Magic himself saved little Harry from the destroyed house and gave him a new family. The new family was called Malfoy and they had a little son called Draco.

"Do you think this is true?" Harry asked Draco, wide-eyed.

"All the names fit!" Draco whispered. "And look at the pictures! These people look like us!"

"But I don´t have a godfather!"

"How can you know? Sirius Black was thrown into jail!"

"Can we ask mother?"

The boys went searching for their mother.

-x-

Narcissa was in the gardens, where she was supervising Dobby as he trimmed the rose bushes. She looked up when Harry and Draco came running over the lawn, their faces flushed with excitement.

"Mother!" cried Harry, waving the book. The two boys stood in front of the witch, panting. "Is it true?" Draco asked between gasps. "Was Harry hunted by an evil wizard?"

Narcissa sighed. They had told Harry that he was their foster son. It was not only his last name, the boy looked so different from Draco, he was so obviously not a Malfoy by blood that it seemed the obvious course of action to tell him. But they had never told him why he had been orphaned, and Harry had never asked before.

"Let´s go inside," the witch smiled. "Dobby, you will finish the roses tomorrow. Go and make us some lemonade."

Dobby bowed and disappeared with a crack.

Narcissa took the boys to the living room and sat on the sofa with them. There she told Harry how his parents had run from the evil wizard. The story in the book was true but for some details! Harry, indeed, had a godfather called Sirius Black! And, Harry could hardly believe it, this Sirius Black was a cousin of mother´s! It made Harry practically a true member of the family!

Both boys were excited about that, but Harry was not sure being connected to Sirius Black was a good thing. If it weren´t for Sirius Black, Harry´d still have his own mother and father. He felt a little bad about thinking that. Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy had always treated him like a son and he loved them dearly. Wishing for his own parents seemed like betraying them.

-x-

Harry thought about his parents and how they had tried to protect him from the evil wizard a lot. There was one question that kept coming up again and again. It took the boy two weeks to finally ask his foster father.

"Why did the evil wizard hunt me, Father?" he asked when the family was taking a walk in the gardens – Narcissa had bought new peacocks and wanted to show them to her husband who had been too busy to look at them so far.

Lucius and Narcissa exchanged a worried look.

"Because he knew you are special, Harry," Lucius said finally.

"Special?" piped the boy.

"Of course! You are going to be a very powerful wizard and he knew it. He wanted to kill you before you grew to be stronger than he. But as I said, you are special and his curse hit him instead of you."

"Am I special, too, Father?" Draco asked eagerly.

"Of course! You are a Malfoy! That alone makes you special!"

"Will I be as powerful as Harry?"

"There´s no way to know yet, son. But undoubtedly you will be very powerful if you are willing to learn and work. All Malfoys are."

"So Harry is more special than I?" Draco stopped walking.

"Draco," said Narcissa. "People are special for different reasons. Some are special by blood, some by power, some by wisdom and some are just especially stupid. Harry is special for his power and you are special because you are the heir to the long line of Malfoy. Nobody can tell which is more special. You just have to remember that each of you is unique in a different way. But also never forget that you are the only one who has the right to call Harry his brother, and you, Harry, have the privileg to call Draco yours. This is the most special about you both."

The two boys laughed happily and a minute later they spotted one of the new peacocks and ran to catch it.

"What was that about?" Lucius smiled. "Are you getting soft, beloved?"

"We can´t have them quarrelling and being jealous all the time, can we?" Narcissa smiled smugly. "And a fierce friendship with Harry Potter will help Draco in many circles."

"You truely are a Slytherin, my dear!" Lucius lifted his wife´s hand to his mouth and placed a gentle kiss on her fingers.

"I´m only following your plan, my Lord," Narcissa teased.

Somewhere in the distance a peacock called in panic.

-x-

The peacock´s call was followed by several seconds of silence and then the excited voice of a young boy.

"Father! Mother! Come quickly and look!"

Lucius and Narcissa exchanged worried looks before both set out after the boys at a run.

"Please, Merlin, let Draco be unhurt!" Narcissa muttered under her breath.

Lucius was running ahead of her, his robes billowing behind him. He nearly lost his balance when he turned around a hedge in full run. The witch nearly ran into her husband when she followed seconds later. The tall blond had stopped right behind the corner and was taking in the scene, trying to understand what he saw.

Draco was standing, dumbfounded, and staring open-mouthed at a peacock. A peacock that stood still as if it were carved out of stone. Harry was practically bouncing. When the darkhaired boy realised that his foster-parents had arrived, he ran to hug them both before he beamed at them proudly.

"Draco stopped the bird!"

Lucius was the first to make sense of what the child had said and hurried to Draco immediately. "Your very first act of magic, son!" he cried proudly and lifted the small boy into a fierce hug. "You petrified that peacock in order to get it! How very Malfoy of you!" He kissed the boy who finally woke from his stupor and hugged back enthusiastically.

Narcissa joined father and son with Harry sitting on her hip. "I´m so proud of you, Draco!" she kissed the blond boy, too.

Not only Lucius and Narcissa were proud, but so were the Malfoy ancestors – "A Malfoy doesn´t ask for what he wants, he gets it! Well done, heir of Malfoy!" – and Narcissa´s mother. The latter called in the afternoon to add her protective spells to Draco´s pendant.

Draco himself was proud, too. He wore his new necklace like an order and showed the pendant to everybody he met.

"Petrified a peacock in order to catch it," Severus read out. He, too, had been invited to spell Draco´s pendant. "Young man, that´s quite an impressive piece of magic and also a very Slytherin move! I´m sure you´re going to be in my house when the time comes!"

"I want to be in Slytherin, too, if Draco is," cried Harry. "I don´t want to leave my brother!"

"It will be easy," said Draco. "My last name starts with an M and yours with a P. So you can watch my sorting and then ask the hat to put you with me."

"The hat doesn´t take suggestions," the head of Slytherin clarified. "But I will be proud if you end up in Slytherin, too, Harry." He smiled at both boys.

The rest of the day saw a constant coming and going of witches and wizards at the manor. Lucius had invited his friends to put their protection into his heir´s pendant and they followed his invitation willingly.

"Father, why didn´t we invite these people for my spells?" Harry asked as he watched a ministry employe, Mr. McNair, touch his wand to Draco´s pendant.

"It wasn´t necessary," explained Lucius, watching Draco proudly. "You got Albus Dumbledore´s spell. Nobody could strenghten that one." Somehow Harry felt this wasn´t the whole truth, but he didn´t pry.


	3. Chapter 3

**Three years later**

Lucius stood rooted to the spot at the entrance to the boys´ little classroom. Madam Bagshot, the boys´ fifth teacher in the same number of months, ducked under the desk, shrieking for help. She was attacked by a one-foot high plush dragon (Lucius thought he recognised Draco´s last Christmas present) and a plush bear of the same size (definitely Harry´s last Christmas present). The two boys sat at their tables, epitomes of innocence but for their smirks.

Lucius ended the spell with a wave of his wand. "Draco Malfoy! Harry Potter! This behaviour will no longer be tolerated!" The blond was livid.

Madam Bagshot, a witch of maybe fourty who claimed to be a relative of the famous historian, scrambled to her feet. "I quit!" she spat at Lucius as she elbowed her way past him.

"As you seem to think you don´t need a teacher, you won´t get another one," Lucius said sternly. "Every day I will give you an assignment in the morning and test you in the evening. And mercy on you if I find out you didn´t work!" It was the only way. Finding Madam Bagshot had been difficult enough. It seemed that the Malfoy boys had a reputation among house teachers.

"Yes, Father," said Harry. Draco pouted.

"Don´t look at me like that!" Lucius barked sternly. "You will clean this room before dinner!" The room was a mess of paper and pieces of chalk. There was also a rag of cloth the same colour as Madam Bagshot´s robes. The dragon and bear seemingly hadn´t been the first attack on the unlucky teacher.

The boys started their task reluctantly. Draco fetched the small dustbin from the teacher´s desk and together the boys started to pick up the mess.

Lucius watched them for a little while before he barked for the house elf to show up. "Dobby, I ordered the boys to clean the classroom. You´re not allowed to help."

The small creature bowed low and promised not to assist the children. That taken care of Lucius strolled outside where he found Narcissa.

"Trouble?" the witch asked.

"They attacked the teacher. Magically," Lucius smiled and pulled his wife into a gentle hug. "They may be troublemakers now, but in some years, we´ll have two very powerful wizards. They´re exceptional. Severus says it´s because they grow up together. They´re goading each other on."

"Another reason why it was a clever move to take Harry in," smiled Narcissa. She snuggled up into her husband´s embrace.

"He´s a true enrichment to our life," admitted the blond wizard. "You have to help me think of a task for the boys tomorrow. I said they won´t get another teacher. Let them read things up for some days and they will be glad if I hire someone."

"Mmh," purred Narcissa. "How very Slytherin of you!"

-x-

"Look what you have done!" Most unusually, Narcissa waited for Lucius in the hall. "You and your ideas!" She stemmed her hands in her hips and glared at the husband angrily. "You have no idea what a day I´ve had!"

"It can´t have been worse than mine," Lucius pointed out. "I had lunch with Fudge, the little idiot. Sometimes I ask myself whether having a more intelligent and harder to influence minister wouldn´t be better. At least I´d get better conversation while securing influence for the house of Malfoy."

"Not worse than eating cucumber sandwiches at a luxurious restaurant? Not worse than mousse au chocolat? Have a look for yourself!" Narcissa grabbed her husband by his robes and pulled him with her. Lucius stumbled after his enraged wife, awkwardly trying to get out of his cloak which he half wore, half dragged after him. He stumbled, but managed to stay on his feet.

The library was a mess. The boys had at least two dozens of books scattered on the floor. The little wrongdoers themselves sat curled up to each other in one of the squashy armchairs, a huge book on their knees, reading.

Lucius took off his cloak, which was easy now that Narcissa had stopped pulling on his robes, but was standing beside him, tapping her foot impatiently.

"Can one of you explain to me how looking up minor spells can cause this amount of destruction?" Lucius barked to the room at large.

"Father!" Draco hopped down from the chair and ran to greet the wizard with a tight hug around his waist. "This is so much better than studying with a teacher!"

"Did you find the three spells I assigned you?" Lucius asked sternly.

"Of course! We are not stupid!" Harry replied from his seat.

"Well?" Lucius looked at the boys expectantly. "Three charms to fight an opponent which won´t earn you punishment at school, but embarrass the victim to no end."

"Tarantallegra!" cried Draco. "They will look like fools, but no real harm is done."

"Rictusempra!" added Harry. "It will make them helpless, laughing fools, but not hurt them."

"Serpensortia! Make them look cowards!"

"Petrificus totalus! Complete public defencelessness!"

"A jelly leg jinx! We were just looking up the incantation." Draco beamed. "We found two different ones and were just trying to find out which was better when you interrupted us."

"That were more than three," Lucius muttered, dumbfounded.

"We had three by lunchtime," said Harry, "but why stop when we had fun?"

"This was our best lesson ever!" agreed Draco. "What will we do tomorrow?"

Lucius exchanged a glance with Narcissa. "Cleaning spells." Then he called for Dobby and had the elf clean up the library before dinner.

-x-

"What will we do today?" Draco was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet. Harry´s eyes twinkled eagerly.

Lucius looked down on the boys with a sly smirk. "I told you yesterday. Cleaning spells."

"Father," huffed Draco. "I´m not a house elf, nor is Harry! Why would we look up cleaning spells?"

"Because it will teach you not to cause disaster in the library," Lucius said sternly, "and, son, because that you have no intention of using a spell will not excuse you from knowing it. You are a Malfoy. Malfoys are powerful and know all kinds of magic. Just imagine somebody besting you because you didn´t learn a cleaning charm."

"It may come in handy," Draco admitted.

"You could clean your own room, once you have a wand," Harry pointed out.

Lucius sighed. He´d have to talk with Harry. The boy was too soft. Merlin knew he tried to give the child a proper education, and he was successful in many areas, but Harry had no decorum. Upper class behaviour came easily to Draco, but with Harry things were different. He had to learn the rules of polite society little by little.

"Harry, you are the heir to an old pureblood family. Nobody expects you to clean your own room," Lucius said with all the patience he could muster.

"Can´t we do something cooler?" whined Draco. "Spells to change your appearance or more fighting spells?"

"Hiding spells!" Harry added to the list.

"I said cleaning spells and that was my last word. You better get started now," Lucius gave the boys a last stern glare before he left for London. He had a meeting at St. Mungo´s. Narcissa pecked his cheek when he fastened the silver clasp on his cloak.

"Thank you," she smiled sweetly. "for helping disciplin them. The strong hand of a father can´t be replaced by a mother."

"Let them search for their cleaning spells in the morning and give them a better assignment after lunch," the blond wizard suggested. "And we should think about getting them wands as their interest for spells is aroused."

"The ministry will not approve," Narcissa pointed out, still smiling.

Lucius chuckled. "As if I´m going to ask!"

-x-

The blond wizard took his son and foster son to Ollivander´s two weeks later. The boys had found a total of fourteen cleaning spells the other day, leaving Dobby in tears because the stupid creature thought his family didn´t want him any more. Only when Lucius had made him wash all the curtains in the manor had the elf calmed down. After that the blond never made the boys look up household stuff again. Instead they searched for those little spells a witch or wizard used dozens of time a day without even thinking.

They knew now – in theory – how to summon things, how to banish them, how to levitate things and how to fix them to a spot. Lucius decided it was time they got some practical experience.

The Malfoy family entered Ollivander´s just before the ancient wizard locked the door for the evening. The shop keeper bowed and led the way to a small chamber in the back. Wands for pre-schoolers weren´t legal, but as Lucius had said, the blond didn´t care and the wandmaker wasn´t known for saying no to an extra galleon or two.

Lucius knew from his deatheater days that Ollivander wasn´t the evil type, but he wasn´t the one to follow law to the letter, when smaller violations were concerned. Especially if he was encouraged by hard galleons. Two eight year olds getting wands was the typical case where Ollivander wouldn´t say no.

"Well," said the old wizard and looked the two boys up and down. "So, these two gentlemen are supposed to get a little head start in their wizarding education." He stooped and looked each boy in the eyes. Neither of the children lowered their eyes, but met the wandmakers´ without fear.

"Mr. Malfoy first," smiled the old man, knowing who was going to pay for his service. He transfigured some cardboard boxes into armchairs for Lucius, Narcissa and Harry to sit while Draco tried wands.

"This may take a bit longer than usual," explained the wandmaker. "Matching a wizard and a wand is a question of experience and, obviously, I´m not so experienced with young children."

"But it can be done?" Lucius asked.

"It´s not unprecedented," the older wizard smiled as he directed a measuring tape around Draco. The man studied the numbers a quill had written on a piece of parchment while the tape worked. "Oak, I guess." He went to a shelf on the side of the room and got a box twice the size of a shoe box.

Draco gasped when he looked into it. There were at least two dozens of wands in it.

"They aren´t wrapped in single boxes in the back room," explained the wandmaker. "Storing them like that is more room-saving." He rummaged through the box and gave Draco a wand. "This should be the right lenght. – Wave it!"

Draco did as told, but there was no reaction to his wave.

"Put it back," Mr. Ollivander ordered and handed Draco another wand.

Draco tried all the wands in the box, but the best they got were some sparks with one of the wands and Lucius was quick to tell the wandmaker that he had no intention to buy a wand that produced so poor results.

The older wizard reassured the blond that he´d not in his wildest dreams thought of selling that wand to a Malfoy and replaced the box of oak wands with another one containing ash wands.

Again, Draco tried them all, but the ash was even worse than the oak. After the ash wands, it was beech wands and then fir wands, to no avail.

"I think there is no wand for me," Draco said in a small voice.

"Nonsense!" cried the wandmaker. "I have a wand for every wizard. Your great-granduncle Argyle had to try a total of 517 wands before my father found his match. And he´s only number three on the list of difficult customers in this establishment´s history."

"Who´s number one?" asked Draco.

"We never speak his name," Mr. Ollivander said in a hushed voice. Lucius noticed the anxious glance the man shot at him. "He tried 543 wands." The atmosphere in the small room was suddenly tense.

It was Harry who broke the tense silence. "Who was number two, Sir?"

"Number two was a witch by the name of Hafwen Peverell. She tried 523 in 1571." Mr. Ollivander´s voice was cheerful as if he tried to dispel the tension in the room.

"That must have taken hours!" cried Draco.

"Indeed," agreed Mr. Ollivander. "But acquiring a wand is a very important task. Only a fool would rush it and no Malfoy I ever knew was a fool." He took another box from the shelf. "Here, try hawthorn."

The first hawthorn wand Draco touched was THE wand. Everybody in the room knew. Draco´s expression went beatific the moment his fingers made contact with the wood. There was a buzzing sound and Draco was surrounded by a swirl of colourful light.

After Draco had calmed down, he and Harry changed places. Draco sat with his parents (the new wand lying across his knees) and Harry stood in the middle of the small room for the wandmaker to take his measures.

As the hawthorn box was down, they started with that one, but the results were poor.

"What a pity," cried Draco. "I had hoped we´d get similar wands as we are brothers."

"I rarely see twins get similar wands," said Mr. Ollivander. "It´s true that family can usually produce acceptable results with each other´s wands, but that doesn´t mean that they all need the same wood or core." He replaced the hawthorn box with the oak one.

Had it been hard to find a wand for Draco, it was a herculean task to find one for Harry. The darkhaired boy tried oak, beech, fir, ash, hawthorn, holly, maple, willow, fig, pine and mahogany, but didn´t produce so much as a single spark.

"It seems Harry wants to set a new record," giggled Draco.

Harry glared at his friend and foster brother. He was tired, he was hungry and he still had no wand. And what was worse, Mr. Ollivander was nearly out of boxes.

"Don´t be afraid," the old wizard seemed to guess his train of thought. "I have found a wand for every witch and wizard who came to me so far."

"What if I´m not a wizard?" whispered Harry.

Mr. Ollivander turned to Lucius. "He has shown his first act of magic, hasn´t he?"

"Of course," Lucius said seriously. "I wouldn´t bring a child who could be a squib."

Ollivander nodded in contentment. "It seems, Mr. Potter, you´re a complicated case. Now, let´s see."

"But there are no wands left!" cried Harry.

The wandmaker chuckled. "Don´t be afraid, child. There are plenty of wands. We´ll just have to look among the unique wands." He smiled. "I use two types of cores, which produce the best results with English woods, for most of my wands. Dragon heartstring and unicorn hair. There are many more magical ingredients which could be used. But some only work for wizards with special talents, others are very rare and the result they produce don´t justify the cost, others are difficult to work with. I occasionally make such wands, but I only sell them if the standard ones don´t work."

The wandmaker opened a drawer and removed a small box, which contained only one single wand. "Ash with veela hair," he said as he handed the wand to Harry. He snatched it back immediately when it produced a small puff of black smoke upon the boy´s touch. "No, bad idea. Here. Willow with a werewolf tailhair. Your mother had willow."

Harry wished the willow wand would work. Having something in common with his mother sounded good. The boy was disappointed when nothing happened when he touched the wand.

"I wonder," muttered Mr. Ollivander. He removed another small box from the drawer. "I wonder." He stroked the lid of the box, deep in thought. A second later the old man was attentive again and handed Harry the wand that had rested in the box.

Harry knew now why Draco had looked so happy. A comfortable warmth spread through his body the moment he touched the wood. A sound like a happy sigh filled the room and Harry asked himself whether it had been him or the wand who had sighed. He was surrounded by light, too, like Draco had been. Only in his case the light was warm and golden. It didn´t swirl, but lit the whole room for the tiniest of moments before it faded to a homey glow and then back to darkness.

"Curious," whispered the wandmaker.

"What is curious, Sir?" asked Harry.

"This wand, holly with phoenix feather, was made more than fifty years ago. Usually I sell a wand within a year or two, but this one didn´t find its match, so I had stopped trying. The phoenix who gave the feather gave only two."

"Who has the other wand?" Lucius asked, agitated.

"It was sold many years ago to a boy."

"What was the name of this boy?" the blond man inquired.

"Tom Riddle," whispered Mr. Ollivander.

"He can´t have this wand!" Lucius was up and snatched the wand from Harry. "Find a different one!"

"Mr. Malfoy," the wandmaker replied respectfully. "He can´t outrun destiny. You saw what happened when he touched the wand." He took the wand from the blond and handed it back to the boy. "This one was made for you and you only. It waited for you for half a century. You will do great things with this wand." The wandmaker smiled at the boy. "It´s late, Mr. Malfoy. The boys shouldn´t be up this late."

Lucius paid for Draco´s wand. The wandmaker refused to take a single knut for Harry´s wand. When the family exited the shop, Draco turned. "How many did Harry try?" he asked.

"543."

-x-

The boys could hardly wait to try out their new wands. Draco hopped around his father like an over-excited rubber ball, trying to snatch the box holding his wand from the tall wizard´s hands. Harry was a bit quieter, but no less excited.

Lucius held the wand boxes up, out of Draco´s reach. "Listen," he said in a very solemn voice. "Before I give you those wands I must warn you. When a young wizard is learning magic, many things can go wrong. You won´t get your spells right on first attempt. Therefore I need you to promise to never – NEVER! – try a new spell on a witch or wizard. If you need a moving target make it one of the peacocks." – Narcissa gasped as if to protest. – "And be aware, if you ever violate this rule, I will take your wands and not return them until you´re on platform 9 ¾."

"But it´s three years until then!" whined Draco.

"Then you better obey!" Lucius glared down at his son sternly.

"We will," muttered the blond boy. Harry nodded in agreement.

Lucius nodded contently and handed each boy a box. Draco tore his open excitedly and tossed the box aside after taking his wand. Harry opened his box more reverently and put the box into his pocket after getting hold of the wand. "So how do we start?" he asked Lucius.

The blond wizard smiled down at Harry. "You should start with a simple spell. What about Wingardium Leviosa? It´s easy and handy."

The boys had read about this spell and they had practiced the wand movement with spoons. Dobby had nearly fainted when his young charges had raided the kitchen for something to make a wand.

"What shall we lift?" Draco asked eagerly.

Lucius looked around the room in search for something he wouldn´t miss too much if the spell went wrong. He settled for yesterday´s copy of the Daily Prophet. "The newspaper," he ordered.

Draco pointed his wand at the paper, flicked his wand and spoke the incantation. Nothing happened.

"This wand doesn´t work!" Draco complained.

"You just have to practice," Harry pointed out.

"Then you do it," ordered Draco.

Harry took aim, swished his wand and spoke the incantation. One corner of the paper was lifted a bit, but fell back tiredly in an instant. Harry glared at his wand, then repeated the movement he had practiced once and then, after some time of thought, a second time. Then he spoke the incantation again.

This time the Prophet wiggled a bit, but stayed on the table. Nevertheless Harry seemed content. "See, we have to practice."

"But we read all about the spell!" insisted Draco.

"Reading and doing are not the same thing," Narcissa pointed out with a smile. "And the first few spells are always the hardest to learn."

Lucius smiled. "It´s time for bed now. You can practice in the morrow. And remember what I said about your wands."

The boys kissed their parents good-night obediently and went upstairs to be tucked in by Dobby.

Lucius sat in front of the fireplace and summoned a crystal tumbler and a bottle of fine firewhisky. Narcissa sat on the armrest of his chair and kissed the top of her husband´s head.

"You are worried," she pointed out. "Is it Harry´s wand?"

Lucius took his time pouring himself some whisky. Then he nodded.

"What is it?" Narcissa caressed the man´s shoulders soothingly.

"Not many know it," Lucius said in a voice so low, Narcissa had to bend closer to hear. "Tom Riddle was the boy who became the Dark Lord!"

"You mean Harry has the Lord´s wand´s twin?" Narcissa gasped. "What could it mean? Are we raising the next Dark Lord?"

"Either that or the Dark Lord´s most bitter rival." Lucius took a gulp of firewhisky. "Either way is not good."

"On first sight, my love." Narcissa´s caresses turned into a massage. "But I wouldn´t have fallen for you, were you not the man who can turn anything into an advantage." She nuzzled at her husband´s ear for the shortest of moments. "My Slytherin," she breathed into the blond mane.

-x-

"I see you got them wands." Severus was visiting like every Sunday for the past seven years. "You are aware that they can´t give away they already know how to use it when they come to Hogwarts." The potions master and Narcissa were sitting under a magnolia and watching the boys hunting a very panicky peacock.

"Lucius lectures them every evening about not showing they know magic yet to anybody but the family." Narcissa smiled. "And very close friends, of course."

Severus allowed himself a pleased smile. "For how long have they had them?" he asked curiously. "They seem quite apt for boys their age." The peacock yelped as a spell hit it from behind and doubled its efforts to reach a hiding place. "Was that a stunning spell?"

Narcissa nodded. "You know that Draco´s first act of magic was immobilizing one of the birds. For some reason that makes the boys want to re-enact the event again and again." She sighed. "We needed five new peacocks in two months."

"They didn´t kill the birds?" Severus asked, worried.

"Of course not! They´re so sweet little boys. How would they come up with the hatred to kill?" Narcissa turned up her beautiful nose. "You don´t expect me to leave a half-plucked peacock in my garden, do you?"

Severus smiled. "I wouldn´t dare to!" He looked over the lawn and now that he knew what he was watching out for he realised the peacock feathers all over the place. "For how long have they been practicing stunners?"

"Not long. A week perhaps. Have you ever seen a peacock with jelly legs?" Narcissa sighed again. "Or a peacock after Tarantallegra?"

Severus watched Harry take aim again. The peacock was hit square in the back this time and toppled over ungracefully. The boys cheered and performed a little wardance around the fallen bird.

"He´s good," the potions master stated.

"He´s more than good. Draco is powerful, but he´s not a patch on Harry. The boy has only to hear a spell once and he can copy it. He needed several tries in the beginning, but now he produces good results on first try. And his aim is much better than Draco´s. Actually, Lucius is worried."

"Worried? Wasn´t that his plan, to further the house of Malfoy by binding a very powerful young wizard to it?"

"Powerful, but not that powerful. Sometimes I think we bit off more than we can chew. Once Harry starts his schooling, he will soon be more powerful than I or even Lucius. And what´s more..." Narcissa hesitated.

"You know you can trust me," Severus pushed gently.

Narcissa closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. "You will have to know in the end," she muttered. "Harry has the Lord´s wand´s twin."

"What?" The dark clad wizard jumped to his feet. "Dumbledore told me there was another wand, but never had I thought... I doubt even Dumbledore considered... I have to tell him!"

"I guess it can wait until after dinner?"

Severus sat back down. "He didn´t know for weeks, he can wait some more hours to learn." He smiled as he saw the boys approaching.

"Uncle Severus!" Harry cried merrily. "Did you see me stun that peacock?"

"I saw. And you did a splendid job, Harry." Severus beamed. "Draco! Good work, too. That was a very close miss."

Both boys blushed at the praise. The rest of the afternoon was spent with Severus correcting the boys´ wand movements here and there. By the time Lucius came home, both were able to take out a peacock on first try.

-x-

Severus was eagerly awaited when he returned to Hogwarts. Like every Sunday, Albus had tea prepared and the potions master´s favourite ginger biscuits waiting on a small plate. The old man started the conversation with the same question as every week.

"How´s Harry doing?"

"Very well," Severus watched his superior pour him tea and helped himself to a biscuit. "Lucius bought him a wand."

"Ha!" Albus spilled tea all over the coffee table when he jerked in excitement. "We finally got him! Giving a wand to a child is illegal! I knew it was going to pay off to send you there. At last we can have Harry removed from there and place him with his aunt, where he should have been put from the very beginning. And as icing on the cake, Lucius will go to jail."

"Don´t be ridiculous," replied the potions master. "Lucius will pay a small fine, if he´s punished at all. You may be successful in removing Harry from there, but what will be gained by doing so? Can you imagine a so far magically raised child in a muggle environment? The DMAC would open a branch office in Privet Drive within a week. And don´t forget that Harry considers Lucius and Narcissa his parents. If the boy ever found out that you removed him from his family, he´d hate you." Severus shook his head. "That would be a very bad idea, Albus."

The headmaster sighed. "You´re right, Severus. But even after all those years, I still think that Harry would have been better off with his muggle relatives."

"I´m not sure about that. Petunia was never a kind one and after the loathing she held for her sister I can´t see her raise her nephew lovingly. I´ve been telling you that Lucius is raising Harry as his own. The boy is loved and pampered just as Draco is."

"I don´t believe that. We both know that Lucius took Harry in purely out of self-interest."

"It may have been that in the beginning, but he loves Harry dearly. I have no doubt about that. And even if Lucius didn´t, Narcissa does. Lucius is devoted to his wife. What Narcissa wants, Narcissa gets. If he´s not going to protect Harry out of love for the boy, he will for Narcissa."

"I hope you are right. Now tell me about the wand."

Severus told Dumbledore what he had seen and heard that afternoon. The headmaster smiled happily when he heard about Harry´s talent to copy spells. He became serious as soon as he learned which wand Harry had gotten.

"The second phoenix wand? I´d never have guessed," the old man muttered. "But it makes sense. To conquer Riddle, he will need an equally powerful wand." The wizard shuddered. "It´s one thing to hear a prophecy and another to see it unfold."

"For the time being Harry is safe," Severus reminded him. "Lucius is very capable of protecting him."

"I still think he should have gone to his aunt," insisted Dumbledore.

"Be that as it may, it wouldn´t be wise to change things now."

"I know, Severus." The headmaster sighed. "But that doesn´t mean I have to like them."


	4. Chapter 4

**Three years later**

Harry and Draco followed their mother through Diagon Alley with barely hidden pride. Finally, they were going to get their school things. Their Hogwarts letters had arrived weeks ago, at the start of the summer, but Narcissa had insisted on waiting until the end of July.

"First of all," she had explained, "you don´t want to go dressed in last year´s leftover robes, do you? Madam Malkin gets the latest models to put on display in August. Of course, we will get to choose before they´re shown to the public." The witch was easily one of Madam Malkin´s best customers after all. "And secondly, if we go at the end of the month, Harry can pick an extra birthday gift and Draco can get the surprise gift he was promised at his birthday. I was thinking of a new broomstick. The new Nimbus 200 was released only yesterday."

"Nimbus 2000, Mother!" the boys had corrected her in unison.

Harry thought going to Diagon Alley on his birthday was a great thing. Draco agreed. With Harry´s birthday, Narcissa was more likely to give in to their pleas for treats. Especially if Harry put on those puppy eyes that worked so much better with green eyes than grey.

Madam Malkin´s was their first stop. One of the shop assistants led the way to the back of the shop, another hurried to serve tea and a third ran to alert Madam Malkin herself. The witch, a bit too plump for a woman earning her money with fashion as Narcissa kept pointing out in private, wore simple, but elegant robes in a powdery blue that went perfectly with her eyes.

"Lady Malfoy!" she greeted Narcissa first. "And the young gentlemen. I take it you´re not visiting to see the last ballrobes?"

"I may have a look when we´re finished with the boys," said the blonde witch. She didn´t get up from her armchair, but the boys stood politely. "We need school robes, cloaks. The whole Hogwarts equipment."

"I see," Madam Malkin smiled. "And perhaps something a bit more cheerful for the holidays?"

"Robes for the Christmas ball sound like a good idea."

The boys beamed. The Malfoys had a house ball every Christmas, but so far they hadn´t been allowed to attend.

"But school first," ordered Narcissa. Madam Malkin started a small lecture about different materials, but the witch stopped her with a raised hand. "Only the best for my sons."

"You hear Lady Malfoy," cried Madam Malkin. She clapped her hands and the shop assistants rushed to bring silk shirts, cashmere pullovers and the finest robes the storerooms held.

The boys had to try on dozens of clothes. It was hard to bear it all patiently, but the prospect of gifts helped a lot. Narcissa had them try on different robes to compare. She insisted Draco got robes that emphasized his slight build. Trying on the cloaks was worst. Neither of the boys had been aware how many different items could be considered "silver fastenings". Then there was the question of lining. The witch insisted of the cloaks not only being warm, but also showing that Draco and Harry came from a rich family. They ended up with fur lining.

After Madam Malkin´s they went to Flourish and Blott´s. Narcissa left the book list with a shop assistant. Their books were to be delivered by owl.

"Nearly twelve o´clock," the witch pointed out after they left the bookshop. "Time for lunch." She led the way to a small restaurant at the end of the alley.

The boys were delighted when they spotted Lucius and Severus at one of the tables.

"Father!" cried Draco and hugged the man in greeting. The gesture was returned gracefully, but not without a whispered request for more decorum in public.

The meal was spent with idle chatter about the clothes the boys had gotten. Draco described his cloak in detail, Harry complained about how exhausting fitting the robes had been. Lucius and Severus chuckled.

"I guess your mother enjoyed herself a lot this morning. Narcissa, you should have taken into account that the boys are novices at clothes shopping."

"Lack of experience is no excuse for not doing things properly," the witch pointed out.

After lunch, the Malfoy family and Severus Snape went to the apothecary´s, where the potions master picked what the boys were going to need for his subject. He outright refused to buy potions starter kits – "I know the rubbish you throw into these!" – and had the shop assistant weigh each single ingredient from the boxes of high quality ingredients. The black clad wizard also chose vials and tools, cauldrons and potion kit bags for the boys.

"But Uncle Severus, black is boring!" complained Harry.

The wizard raised a brow. "I´m wearing black." He looked down on the boy, an amused smile on his face.

"But you´re the exception" whined Harry. "Apart from you, black is boring."

"Harry´s right!" seconded Draco.

"You can customize your bags on the front," the potions master pointed out. "They even have special stickers for the bags."

"Really?" enthused Harry. "May we have some, Mother?"

"Of course, dear." Narcissa helped the boys choose. The bags were supposed to look tasteful, after all. Draco chose a vicious green dragon for his bag, Harry went for a moving image of a Golden Snitch.

"That´s cool," admitted Draco. "But being called Draco, I had to have the dragon and it´s not that it´s immobile, after all." He watched the sticker dragon spit sticker fire.

"Cool," Harry whispered with the right amount of awe.

After the apothecary, Severus took his leave and the Malfoys proceeded to the Magical Menagerie. The Hogwarts letter said that the children were allowed to bring a pet and it was clear that no Malfoy would lack anything. The boys had discussed which pet they wanted and had agreed to take owls, as those were not only cute, but also useful. Not to mention expensive.

The shop was crammed with cages and baskets. There were cats, rats and snakes as well as toads. But most importantly, under the rafters of the building, there were dozens of owls.

Lucius ordered a shop assistant to show the boys the best birds. The assistant, a boy of barely twenty, waved down several owls, all of which sat on a perch in the back of the shop for the customers to see better.

Draco chose quickly. He pointed at a huge eagle owl, which puffed out its chest, proud to be chosen. "I want that one!" Draco announced, his tone leaving no room for discussion.

"An excellent choice," said the shop assistant. "Eagle owls make the best post owls. A highly useful pet."

Lucius and Narcissa smiled at each other proudly. Despite his young age Draco had already superior taste.

"Now for the other master," said the assistant after he had sent Draco´s purchase to the counter. He yelped as a shadow hovered by and nearly knocked his wizard´s hat off his head. "Go away, you stupid animal!" he cursed and tried to hit the offender with his hat. The big white owl avoided the man elegantly and landed on Harry´s shoulder.

"She´s beautiful!" cried Harry. He craned his neck to see better.

"But not very practical," Lucius pointed out. "She´s rather conspicious, isn´t she?"

The snowy owl nibbled Harry´s ear. "I can always rent a post owl," Harry pointed out. "And I wouldn´t send a secret message with my own owl anyway, would I?" He met Lucius´s eyes unblinkingly.

"Good thinking," laughed Lucius. "So I take it she´s your choice?"

Harry nodded. He stroked the owl´s chest with his index and the bird nibbled it affectionally.

"A choice worthy of a Malfoy," smiled Narcissa. "A snowy owl is pure luxury."

Draco pouted, because his pet was more useful than luxurious, but Harry laughed happily. "Isn´t it great? My owl matches my brother´s hair and his mine."

"That´s funny," agreed the blond boy. "I guess I will name my owl Harriet."

Harry giggled. "Then mine will be Dracina."

They chose elegant silver cages for the ride on the Hogwarts Express and the shop owner, who had hurried to the shop from a store room as soon as he had heard that Lord Malfoy and his family were shopping there, added two boxes of owl treats for free. Lucius shrank the cages and the boys told their new owls the address of Malfoy Manor.

Once the birds were on their way, the family proceeded to the Quidditch supply store to get the boys new broomsticks. This last stop was very short as they already knew which brooms the boys were supposed to get.

-x-

August went by quickly, especially with the new Nimbuses 2000. Lucius spent the evenings admonishing the boys to be careful not to give away they already knew how to cast spells. Narcissa, on the other hand, busied herself spoiling the boys rotten. She made Dobby prepare their favourite dishes and spent more time than usual watching them fly in the park.

On August 31st, Dobby packed the trunks for the boys after dinner.

Breakfast the next day should have been cheerful, the boys had been so excited about going to Hogwarts at last. But it wasn´t. It only hit them then that they had to leave their mother and father and wouldn´t see them again before Christmas. They hadn´t been seperated from both their parents for longer than some hours before. And if they had, Dobby had been with them.

"I will send you a message every day," smiled Narcissa, sensing what was bothering the boys.

"Thank you, Mother," smiled Draco.

The family apparated to King´s Cross station with nearly half an hour to spare. Nevertheless, the platform was crowded already.

Harry and Draco looked around. There were people in strange clothes. Wizards and witches trying to blend in with the muggles, Lucius explained with a disgusted sneer. Of course, the Malfoy family was wearing muggle clothes, too, for the occasion. The difference was that Lucius had taken them to a very elegant and expensive muggle shop to purchase them. Narcissa wore an exquisite powdery blue dress and a pearl necklace, Lucius himself wore an elegant grey suit. The boys wore black trousers and white shirts, which they could leave on when they changed into their school uniforms. Their ties were striped in black and grey and spelled to change to Slytherin colours once they had been sorted. Actually the spell was designed to change to whatever house colour needed, but how likely was it for Draco Malfoy and his brother to go anywhere than Slyhterin? Lucius and Narcissa were a bit worried about Harry, because his family had a long tradition of going into Gryffindor, but hopefully the houses of Hogwarts were rather a question of education than genetics.

Lucius watched out for acquaintances. He was pleased to spot his old friends – and fellow deatheaters, but this was not the time to harp on about that – Bertram Crabbe and Montgomery Goyle. He remembered that both of them had become fathers the same year Draco was born.

"Bertram, Montgomery," the blond wizard greeted the two men as they made a beeline for him. They hadn´t met other than in passing in years as it didn´t seem wise to associate within the circle of their Lord´s followers after his downfall. No need to arouse suspicion among the fools who hadn´t seen the rightness of His ways.

"Lucius," Bertram hinted a bow. "What a pleasure. Meet my son and heir, Vincent."

Lucius managed a smile despite his urge to laugh. Vincent Crabbe was the epitome of heaviness. While the older Crabbe had never been known for his scintillating wit, the man looked a genius next to his son. Gregory Goyle, who was introduced next, was not much better. Lucius was not discontent though, having some dimwitted toughs at hand was not a disadvantage.

He and the other two men found a compartment for their sons and heaved their trunks into the luggage racks. Actually Mr. Goyle did the heaving for Lucius, but he wasn´t going to make a big deal of it.

"So, which house do you guess you will be in?" Draco asked to start the conversation when the train had gone around a bend and they could no longer see their parents.

"Slytherin, what else?" grunted Vincent. Gregory nodded in agreement.

"You two met before?" the blond inquired and the two boys confirmed, nodding and grunting.

"Our dads are friends," said Gregory. "And you?"

"We are brothers," stated Draco.

"You don´t look like brothers," Vincent pointed out.

"But we are," Harry said firmly.

The four boys fell silent after that. Harry thought that Vincent and Gregory weren´t very interesting company, but it was more than probable that they were going to have to share a dormitory with them for the next seven years, so it wouldn´t be wise to tell them that. The boy stiffled a sigh. Vincent, Gregory and Draco were so sure they were going to be in Slytherin, but Harry wasn´t. He wished to be with Draco with all his heart and if the hat was going to place the blond in Hufflepuff, Harry would follow his brother there without batting a lash, but he couldn´t be sure the hat would allow it.

Harry had asked his father about the house his biological parents had been in and Lucius had told him Gryffindor, making the name sound like a curse. Harry had promised to do everything in his power not to shame the Malfoy family by going into Gryffindor. Narcissa had heard it and had snapped at Lucius angrily that it was the hat´s decision and that it was lousy of him to make Harry think they´d love him less if he was sorted into Gryffindor. Then she had hugged the boy and kissed his hair, a thing she hadn´t done since he had been a lot smaller.

"Shall we play Exploding Snap?" Draco startled Harry out of his musings.

"Yes, why not?" The card game was easy enough to play and even dumb people, like Vincent and Gregory could play it.

The four boys played until a prefect came and told them to put on their robes. Neither of them bought anything from the food trolley that was pushed by by a elderly witch around lunch time. Just like the Malfoy boys, Vincent and Gregory had brought a small lunch box from home, which held much better food than anything the trolley offered.

Vincent and Gregory´s robes weren´t as luxurious and expensive as Draco and Harry´s, but they were of finer than average material and told that the two boys came from a decent background. They, too, had owls as pets. Maybe they weren´t the worst company after all.

Shortly before they reached the magical village of Hogsmeade, a girl with bushy brown hair and simple cotton robes opened the door of their compartement.

"Has anybody seen a toad? A boy named Neville has lost his."

"How can you lose a toad?" muttered Harry.

"Why would anybody want a lost toad back?" snorted Draco.

Gregory and Vincent snickered.

"You are not very nice, are you?" snapped the girl and flung the door shut.

The boys laughed after her. A toad! How uncool! It was clear that neither that Neville boy nor this girl were appropriate company.

When the train came to a halt in Hogsmeade station, the boys said good-bye to their owls and got off the train. Their luggage, they had been informed, was taken care of for them.

"First years! Over here! First years!"

The boys followed the call, although shouting in public like that didn´t bode well. It was simply bad behaviour. They saw their worst assumptions borne out when a giant man came into view. The suit he wore wouldn´t have been used as a cleaning rag at Malfoy Manor and his hair looked worse than Dobby´s oldest broom.

Harry and Draco shuddered. Nobody had told them that Hogwarts was going to be dirty!

The giant waited for all the first years to come to him and then led the way down a slope to the beach of a lake. He made them sit in small boats, four children to each.

Harry and Draco naturally shared a boat with Vincent and Gregory. Once you got to know them a little better, Harry decided, they were quite nice. Gregory pointed the bushy haired girl out to them. She seemed frightened to board one of the boats, but the giant took her hand and helped her aboard one.

There were several children who weren´t brave enough to step onto a boat. A plump boy – were those tears on his cheeks? – and a blonde girl had even more trouble than the bushy haired one. The giant finally lifted them both as if they were dolls and set them into the boat he himself was going to take.

When finally everybody was aboard a boat, the giant signalled with a pink umbrella and the little fleet of boats started to move.

The surface of the lake was smooth. Smooth enough for the stars and the moon to be reflected. It was as if they were sailing the sky. Harry thought it was the most beautiful and most scary thing he had ever done. He looked at Draco to see whether his brother shared the sentiment and, indeed, he did. Draco looked as awed as Harry felt. When the blond felt Harry´s eyes on him, he smiled back shyly.

Just when the boys thought things couldn´t get more impressive, the boats turned around a small peninsula and the castle of Hogwarts came into view. They had seen pictures of it, but none of them were taken by night. The glittering of many windows alight was a complete surprise. It was as if the castle had put on its finest dress to welcome the new students. There was not a single dark window and even the many roofs sparkled with magical light.

The children craned their necks to see better and when the fleet of boats reached the other side of the lake and made their way into a small cave, they laid back to see the castle longer.

The cave held a small harbour and each boat went to its place without any visible order from the giant.

Being back on solid ground was strange after the boat ride, but at least the Malfoy boys didn´t need the filthy giant to help them out of their boat, unlike many of the other children. The giant made sure everybody had left their boat and then led the way up a narrow stone staircase to a big oak door. He knocked thrice and the door opened.

The inside of the castle was warm and aglow with the light of thousands of candles. A witch in tartan robes awaited them.

"Hagrid!" she greeted the giant with a formal bow.

"Professor McGonagall!" the giant mirrored the bow, but it looked ridiculous on his bulky frame. "I bring you the new first years."

"Follow me," demanded the witch and led them into a small chamber, away from the warm lights. This room must be some kind of antechamber. It lacked any decoration or furniture. In fact the only items in it were seven torches on the wall. The witch waited for the children to file into the room and then closed the door with a flick of her wand.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," she said formally. "Before you can join the rest of the school, you have to be sorted." She explained about the houses and the hat.

Harry and Draco looked around. Lucius had advised them to do so. The reactions of the children to the explanation was a sure way to find out who was muggleborn and who came from a wizarding family. Unfortunately there was no way to tell purebloods from halfbloods as easily, but spotting the mudbloods was a good start.

Of course, Harry knew that he was a halfblood himself, but he was also the saviour of the wizarding world, so his blood status was of minor importance. Lucius had said so and the purebloods Harry had met had confirmed it with their friendly attitude.

Having finished her little speech, the witch told them to wait until she had made sure that the school was ready for the sorting.

"Trevor!" the plump boy who had been afraid to board a boat on his own stooped and picked up a toad from the floor. He gave the animal a tearful smile.

"You see, Neville," said the bushy haired girl, "I told you he was going to turn up. Toads are very faithful pets."

"Who would want a faithful slimeball?" sneered Draco.

Harry giggled, as did Vincent and Gregory.

"You´d know everything about slimeballs, wouldn´t you?" a redhaired boy joined the conversation. "Leave Neville alone!"

Draco turned up his nose. "Who asked you, Weasley?"

Harry couldn´t but wonder how Draco knew the boy´s name, but then he looked closer. Yes. Red hair and shabby clothes. Definitely a Weasley. There weren´t many pureblood families not worth associating with, but the Weasleys definitely were on top of the list. Father had warned them. The Weasleys were known for their poverty and many children. There was no year they didn´t send another one to Hogwarts.

"I can´t remember anybody to ask for your opinion either, slimeball!" Weasley pushed Draco.

"What did you just call me?" Draco was smaller than the other boy, but that didn´t mean that he was going to let him win. Harry decided that it was time to make up for Weasley´s advantage in size. "Don´t mess with my brother!" He stood beside Draco and amazingly enough Vincent and Gregory followed his lead. Neither of the two boys was smaller than the Weasley boy and both had more weight.

Weasley knew when to back out and back out he did, muttering darkly. The Neville boy went after him to thank him. The bushy haired girl looked like she was going to say something, but didn´t when a group of ghosts entered the chamber through one of the walls.

"Welcome to Hogwarts!" cried the merry spirit of a plump monk. "May your time within these walls be happy!"

"That´s the Fat Friar, the Hufflepuff house ghost!" somebody whispered.

Several other ghosts spoke to the first years, too, but most of them eyed the new students silently. One of them, whose clothes were full of silver specks, which Harry took for blood, made a point of walking through the children, in the literary sense. Those unlucky enough to be passed by the ghost shrieked.

Their frightened yelps called professor McGonagall back to the chamber. "Baron," the woman said sternly, "I insist you leave those children alone." She glared at the ghost over the rims of her rectangular spectacles and the ghost bowed to her before he left the chamber, leaving through the wall opposite the one he had entered through.

The other ghosts followed him in a happy parade. Some waved at the children, others expressed their hope to meet them again, a thing which none of the first years wished to happen too soon.

"The school is ready," announced the professor once all ghosts had left. "Follow me!"

Harry and Draco walked up the aisle between the house tables to the head table side by side. Uncle Severus sat beside Albus Dumbledore, the ancient wizard who had given Harry a protective spell for his amulet years ago. Harry and Draco both waved at him furtively and he smiled down at them. When nobody watched, he winked at them.

As soon as the first years were crowded around a three-legged stool, professor McGonagall carried in a very old and very filthy hat. Harry wasn´t sure he wanted to put it on, even if it was the famous Hogwarts Sorting Hat. Once the hat sat on the stool, it burst into song. The words were nothing special, they described the four Hogwarts houses and how Godric Gryffindor had made the hat the Sorting Hat. Harry wondered why the professor had given them that little speech in the chamber, when the hat explained everything again. They weren´t stupid, were they?

When the hat had finished its petty attempt at song – it had a rather unpleasant voice – the professor stepped forward with a long scroll of parchment and started to call the new students by name. Hannah Abbott sat on the stool first and had the filthy hat placed on her blonde locks. The hat took its time to decide and then put her into Hufflepuff.

Vincent Crabbe was the first of their boat to be sorted. He got his wish and went into Slytherin. Gregory Goyle followed him not much later.

Draco, it turned out, must be the most Slytherin of Slytherins. The hat didn´t even touch his head – Harry thought that was a lucky thing – when it cried "Slytherin!". Harry turned to look at Uncle Severus to see his reaction to Draco being sorted into his own house. The wizard smiled and clapped his hands politely as was fit for a wizard of breeding in public.

When it was Harry´s turn to put on the hat, he was very nervous. He wanted to be placed with his brother! Especially after he had seen the bushy haired girl – Hermione Granger – and the Neville boy be sorted into Gryffindor he had no urge to end up there whatsoever. And the bunch of redheaded boys at the Gryffindor table did nothing to for him either.

That was why Harry was thinking "Not Gryffindor!" with all his heart when the hat touched his head (urgh!).

"Not Gryffindor?" a voice in Harry´s head asked back. Harry realised it was the hat speaking to him. The slightly scratchy voice was unmistakable. "But you´d do well in Gryffindor! It´s all in here. You are a very brave one!"

"I don´t care about brave!" Harry thought. "As far as I´ve seen, they´re a bunch of disgusting people! I want to stay with my brother!"

"You´re an only child!" the hat pointed out.

"My foster brother, idiot headgear! Draco Malfoy!"

"Ah, that one!" the hat ignored the insult. "Hm, Slytherin may be a wise choice for you. I see plenty of ambition and a hunger to prove yourself. You´d fit in nicely in Slytherin and with that snobbish attitude of yours you wouldn´t be appreciated in Gryffindor anyway. So, in order to maintain peace in the noble house of Gryffindor, better be SLYTHERIN!"

Harry removed the disgusting hat from his head and put it back onto the stool and joined Draco at the Slytherin when he had sat down he realised the stunned silence in the Great Hall. People – students and teachers alike – were staring at him. Dumbledore looked livid and sad at the same time.

It was Uncle Severus who broke the silence. He clapped his hands and smiled at Harry encouragingly. Draco followed the potions master´s lead and Vincent and Gregory joined in. "Welcome to Slytherin House, Harry Potter," a boy further down the table said solemnly. He stretched to reach out to Harry and shake his hand. "I´m Marcus Flint, Quidditch captain of Slytherin."

Marcus Flint´s welcome broke the stupor at the Slytherin House table. The students clapped in welcome like they had done for their other new housemates.

After the last student had been sorted (Blaise Zabini joined Slytherin), the headmaster gave the shortest – and easily most harebrained – speech Harry had ever heard. The good thing was that after the speech dinner was served.

Hogwarts must have at least hundred excellent house elves. Harry thought about Dobby with a pang when he helped himself to a piece of a sinfully creamy piece of chocolate cake. The little elf had taken care of him for as long as he remembered. He already missed him.

After a delicious meal the headmaster reminded the students of some school rules, like which items were banned and not to go to the Forbidden Forrest. Harry wasn´t sure who´d want to do that anyway, but then maybe the other houses were not of the same opinion.

A Slytherin prefect showed them the way to the common room, which was in the dungeons. Harry and Draco knew that, of course. Uncle Severus and Lucius had told them. In the common room they were told to wait for their head of house.

Uncle Severus – Professor Snape! It wouldn´t do to use any familiar title at Hogwarts! – came barely a minute after they had left.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen," he said sternly, but not unfriendly. "Welcome to Slytherin house! I hope that you will do well at Hogwarts. The noble house of Salazar Slytherin has won the House Cup seven times in a row and we hope to make it a tradition! So be hard-working and clever and contribute to the next victory what you can. If you need help with your homework, ask an older student. You heard the Sorting Hat! Slytherins are loyal to their house. We help each other where we can."

Then Un...Professor Snape explained about schedules and where everything was and what to do in case they got lost in the castle.

"Mr. Potter, a word," he ended his speech. The new students filed out of the room to their new dormitories and only Harry stayed behind.

"Yes, Sir?"

The professor cleared his throat, searching for words. "The headmaster," he then said without further ado, "is livid. He – and some other people – think that you belong into Gryffindor, because that was where your parents were. I want you to inform me if anybody – student or teacher – gives you a hard time because you are in Slytherin."

"The hat considered putting me into Gryffindor." Harry mused.

"Did it? So why did you end up in Slytherin?"

"I asked to be put with my brother and the hat said I´d do well in Slytherin, too. I didn´t even have to mention I wanted to be in your house."

The professor smiled. "I´m glad you are in Slytherin. Go to bed now, Harry."

-x-

"Everything okay?" asked Draco when Harry entered the boys´ dormitory.

Harry nodded. He didn´t mind Gregory and Vincent overhearing what he talked with Draco, but Blaise was a complete stranger, whom he had to get to know first before he trusted him. Draco understood and didn´t ask any further questions.

"I started my letter to Father," the blond informed Harry. "Come and help me." Following their father´s advice, the boys had identified the mudbloods within their year. Now it was time to spot the halfbloods. They had recognized some names as those of old pureblood families, such as Weasley or Bones, but other names were not familiar. As that didn´t necessarily mean that the pupils carrying them were not pureblood, they had to ask Father for advice.

Harry leant closer to see the names Draco had already written down. McMillan, Thomas, Granger. "I´ve never heard about Patil," Harry mused.

"They look like they come from some foreign country," replied Draco. "They could be pureblood." He wrote the name down.

"I think the Patils came to England only five years ago," said Blaise. "But I don´t know about their blood status."

Harry smiled. At least Blaise was aware of what was important.

-x-

Lessons started the next day. Their very first one was Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall. The witch read out their names before she started the lesson. She looked sad when she reached Harry´s. McGonagall, the boys had learned at breakfast, was the head of Gryffindor. Certainly she was disappointed not to have gotten Harry into her house.

The first good surprise of the day was that the Weasley boy – Ron – and the Neville guy (it was unbelievable that he came from an old wizarding family!) were late for class and lost two points for Gryffindor for it.

The second good thing was that the professor started her lesson with an easy exercise. They had to transfigure matches into needles, something that Harry and Draco had learned years ago. They both feigned some futile attempts first, before actually transfiguring the matches.

"Excellent!" cried McGonagall. "Take one point for Slytherin each!"

By the end of the lesson most of the Slytherins had transfigured their matches successfully. Vincent and Gregory needed help, but as Harry and Draco had finished early they had time to assist them. On the Gryffindor side of the classroom things didn´t go as smoothly. Neville Longbottom and a wand should not be allowed in the same room. Seamus Finnegan caused all his matches to light, but wasn´t able to transfigure any, and Weasley´s wand seemed to be a useless stick rather than a magical device. The only successful Gryffindor was Hermione Granger.

The second lesson for Harry and Draco – and it was shared with Gryffindor again! – was History of Magic. The teacher was a ghost, which sounded cool to start with, but five minutes into the class even the dumbest Gryffindor (Harry wasn´t sure this description applied to Longbottom or the ever giggling Brown girl) was aware that Professor Binns was a bore. Harry was tempted to hex the ghost, but first of all, he didn´t know whether any of the hexes he knew was useful against ghosts and second, he wouldn´t shame his family by petty behaviour. After listening for another five minutes, Harry followed Draco´s lead and started his Transfiguration essay.

After a quick lunch, Harry, Draco and their new friends set out for the dungeons for what certainly was going to be the most important lesson of the day: potions.

Neither Harry nor Draco had any practical experience with potions, but they had read and memorised the first few chapters of their textbook. Both boys wanted to please Uncle Severus.

The lesson was already good before the professor had turned up to let them into the classroom. All the Gryffindors looked like they were going to their execution. The Head of Slytherin House certainly had a reputation. Harry couldn´t but smirk.

Uncle Severus made his appearance right when the bell sounded to announce the start of the lesson. He shooed them into the classroom and followed them inside when everybody had found a seat (Harry and Draco right in front of the teacher´s desk).

"There will be no foolish wand waving in this class!" the potions master bellowed at the class at large when he entered, robes billowing behind him dramatically. "I don´t expect many of you to understand the fascination of a simmering cauldron..." he continued with a short, but passionate speech about the beauty of potion making, which he finished with the promise of teaching them many useful things, even how to stopper death!

Harry and Draco smirked at each other. So far, Potions was their best subject! It was extremely useful, taught by their uncle and the most Slytherin of the magical arts. "Charms," their Father had taught them, "is the most Gryffindor of the magical subjects. It works on impulse, not planning. Transfiguration is for Ravenclaws, it needs more skills than Charms. Magical plants and creatures are for Hufflepuffs, low work. For Slytherins, potions are the best form of magic. Potions need planning and skill. You don´t apply a potion out of a mood. You need a plan, preparations, patience. Everything Slytherins value in themselves. – Which doesn´t mean a decent Slytherin won´t excel in the other subjects as well. To beat an enemy you have to know their strenghts and best them in their own field."

"Well? Mister Weasley?" Uncle Severus startled them out of their reverie. "No answer? I should have know that you were going to be as useless and lazy as your brothers."

Weasley blushed until his face was redder than his hair.

"Miss Granger," the potions master called the girl, who sat with her hand raised.

"A bezoar is a stone found in the stomach of a goat. It will act as an antidote to most poisons." The girl smiled, pleased with herself.

"Next question!" barked the potions master without acknowledging the Gryffindor´s right answer. "What´s the difference between Monkshood and Wolfsbane?"

Harry and Draco´s hands were up as fast as Granger´s this time.

"Mr. Malfoy," drawled the potions master.

"There is none, Sir. They are the same plant." Draco beamed and Harry wiggled his fingers to catch the teacher´s attention.

"Yes, Mr. Potter?"

"The plant is also known by the name of Aconite."

"Excellent! One point to Slytherin for both of you. – Well, our first potion..." Uncle Severus ignored the indignant muttering from the Gryffindor side of the classroom and proceeded in explaining what they were expected to do.

-x-

Harriet, Draco´s owl, returned with Father´s reply during breakfast the next morning. The Patils were purebloods from the colonies, Thomas wasn´t. He was a halfblood. The biggest surprise was that Granger was neither. The girl was a mudblood! Father warned them to be careful about her. That she had learned enough about the wizarding world to pass as a halfblood within one summer made her a dangerous opponent.

Apart from these surprising news, life settled into an easy routine quickly. Draco and Harry attended their lessons together, worked diligently on their homework and spent their leisure time with their fellow Slytherins, mostly in the Common Room.

Life at school was good. The only thing both boys missed was flying. There had barely been a day without a ride on their brooms at home, but here, they were grounded. First years weren´t allowed their own broomsticks and flying lessons started later in the year, after everybody had settled in.

Uncle Severus informed the youngest Slytherins at the end of September about their impending flying lessons. Most children cheered, but Gregory and Vincent looked a bit worried. Harry wasn´t surprised. The two boys, although not as dim as they appeared on first sight, were of heavy build. They probably weren´t very skilled on brooms, if they had tried flying at all.

"I don´t know why I have to learn flying anyway," complained Vincent. "My parents never fly! Apparition and Floo are faster and safer."

"It´s traditional," Draco pointed out with an air of superiority. "Every decent witch and wizard knows how to fly a broomstick."

"And apart from that, it´s fun," Harry finished the sentence.

"Fun?" Vincent snorted.

The day of the first flying lesson was bright and sunny despite the late time in the year. Harry and Draco went down to the lawn with a feeling of merry anticipation. They were going to fly!

The flying instructor, professor Hooch, was a strange woman. She had yellow, hawk-like eyes, which made her look less than human. The impression of a bird of prey was destroyed, however, by her kind smile.

She greeted her students and made them stand beside one of the school brooms – old battered devices – without preamble. Then she instructed them how to make contact with their broom. Harry and Draco both obeyed lazily. Their brooms jumped up into their hands as if they had flown them for years.

Other students weren´t that lucky.

Longbottom´s broom didn´t even wiggle a twig at its wanna-be riders order and Granger´s moved as if it wanted to shake its head in refusal. Some of the Slytherins had troubles, too, but none as bad as the Gryffindors. The most funny thing though was that Weasley´s broom hit the boy on the nose! Harry and Draco shared a good laugh while they waited for the rest of the class to get started.

Harry could hardly wait to be allowed to kick off and fly. This was – at last! – something where they didn´t need to feign ignorance. Flying at home was perfectly legal for underage wizards. After a long wait they were finally allowed to mount their brooms and kick off, but disappointingly only to hover.

Draco was as disappointed as Harry. Not even Longbottom kicking off too hard and losing control – assuming he had ever had any – of his broomstick could soothe them. And what was worse, they were grounded again, for the teacher had to take the oaf to the hospital wing and forbade them to fly in her absence as if they were babies!

"Look, the fat idiot lost his toy!" Draco picked up a small glass ball and showed it to Harry. Indeed, Longbottom had lost a remembrall.

Several of the Slytherins chuckled, but the Gryffindors looked at the blond angrily. It was Granger who spoke up. "Give it back! It´s not yours!"

Draco smirked. "I guess I won´t. It has the right size for a training snitch. Catch, Harry!" He threw the remembrall and Harry caught it. Granger ran after it like a good little dog. "Give it back!" she cried.

Harry laughed. "Why don´t you get it?" He waited until the girl nearly snatched the glass ball from him before he threw it back to Draco. The Slytherins laughed.

"Wanna join in, Vincent?" Draco passed the ball on to the big boy. Within a minute they had a funny game going. The Slytherin boys threw the ball and Granger tried to get it.

"You´re mean!" she shouted at Harry, close to tears.

Harry grinned at her. "What? Don´t they play ball games in the muggle world?" The Slytherins roared with laughter. Draco stood beside Harry. "You better be glad we didn´t decide to play on broomsticks, mudblood!"

"Enough!"

They all whirled around at the stern voice of professor McGonagall. "Your behaviour, Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Potter, is disgusting! Follow me!" She snatched the remembrall from Harry´s hand and threw it to Granger when the boys caught up with her.

Harry and Draco exchanged worried glances. What was McGonagall going to do? Was she going to take points from Slytherin? Or worse, have them expelled? Father was going to be so disappointed! And what was Uncle Severus going to say when he heard?

The boys were taken by surprise when the Head of Gryffindor lead the way to the dungeons. She only stopped in front of Uncle Severus´s office. "You are lucky your punishment lies with the head of Slytherin," the witch snapped. She knocked and Harry felt a slight pang of hope. If Uncle Severus was to decide, they weren´t going to be punished too badly, were they?

To say that Uncle Severus was angry would have been an understatement. The man was scintillating with anger.

"Did your father teach you nothing at all? You let out at a muggleborn student in plain hearing of her housemates! You teased her with a toy that wasn´t yours and had her nearly in tears by the time her head of house appeared! If I don´t take a vast number of points from my own house I will have to answer the headmaster!"

"We´re sorry!" chorussed the boys.

"Sorry won´t save Slytherin the house cup! Twenty points from each of you!"

Harry and Draco gasped. That left Slytherin close to zero! "But Uncle...!" tried Draco.

"Don´t you dare call me Uncle while I´m punishing you!" hissed the potions master. "You will see the wrongness of your behaviour and apologize to Miss Granger publicly at dinner. And make sure the headmaster is present."

It was the most humiliating thing Harry and Draco had done ever. They walked over to the Gryffindor table and told Granger "how very sorry they were for being rude and cruel". Granger looked suspicious, but accepted the apology.

"Well done!" cried the headmaster when Draco had shaken Granger´s hand. "That´s the true spirit of friendship we need! Thirty points to each of you!"

Harry and Draco whirled around to face the old man. He smiled at them benignly. At his right side, Uncle Severus smirked.

-x-

Uncle Severus called them to his office that very evening, shortly before curfew. The wizard was facing one of the shelves when the boys entered, contemplating a jar with what looked like pickled frogs.

"I had a rather unpleasant conversation with Professor McGonagall," he said without looking at either of them. "She thinks Slytherin cheated."

"Technically we didn´t," Draco pointed out. "How were we to know that Dumbledore was going to award us points?"

"And even if we thought he would," added Harry, "how were we to know how many we were going to get?"

Uncle Severus smirked. "That´s exactly what I told her. She´s livid." His grin got a touch nasty. "There´s nothing she can do of course. Nevertheless, I´d appreciate it if you were more circumspect in the future. No matter what you think of Miss Granger," he said the name as if it was a curse, "you will not insult her blatantly in the future. You are Slytherins! Obviousness is for Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs."

The boys hung their heads. "We´re sorry, Professor."

"I´m neither punishing you nor teaching you. You may call me Uncle Severus," the potions master smiled and the boys hurried to hug him before they returned to their dormitory.


	5. Chapter 5

As October neared its end, the qualities of the first years´ lessons changed. All the children, even the muggleborn and muggleraised ones, had found their start in their magical studies and the teachers made their lessons more challenging.

Uncle Severus started to use different ways of stiring in potions and special magical tools, like the silver dagger which was part of every potions kit but had been unused so far.

Professor Sprout, the Herbology teacher, proceeded from general care for plants to real magical specimen.

The most interesting new field was explored in Charms though. Professor Flitwick showed them how to go against physics in the month´s last lesson.

"You all know the wand movement," the small wizard explained. "Now all we have to do is add the correct incantation and you can levitate things. The incantation we need is Wingardium Leviosa!"

"Wingardium Leviosa!" chorussed the class.

"Excellent!" cried the professor. "Now let´s see what you can do." He handed out feathers to the class with a flick of his wand.

Draco and Harry didn´t bother to pretend they weren´t able to master the spell at once. "Wingardium Leviosa!" they cried and directed their feathers around the room with small movements of their wands. After two months of official magical education they had acquired a reputation of being gifted and quick on the uptake.

Again – like in most of their classes – the Granger girl was the next to succeed. As soon as she had mastered the spell, she proceeded to helping her housemates. "You´re saying the spell wrong," she explained to the Weasley boy. "You have to put the emphasis on the O in Leviosa, not the A."

Weasley rolled his eyes, but obeyed. Some minutes later, he managed to lift his feather and direct it with his wand.

"How does it feel to be Granger´s puppet?" Harry smirked at the redhead when the students filed out of the classroom.

"Take that back!" hissed Weasley. He bumped into Harry angrily.

"Why would he take back the truth?" Draco grinned. "She´s directing you all the time. It seems like she has the only brain in Gryffindor."

"She has not!" Weasley cried angrily. "Nobody needs her directions. She´s nothing but a cocky know-it-all." He turned on his heel when he heard a strangled sob from behind him. "Hermione! Wait!" With another angry glare he hurried after the girl.

Harry and Draco laughed and patted each other´s shoulder.

-x-

It was Halloween, and therefore Hogwarts was decorated gaudily for dinner, which was rather a feast than a simple evening meal. The headmaster made a speech, but most of the students watched the live bats the gameskeeper – the giant who had taken them across the lake – had brought to the Great Hall and barely listened.

Draco gleefully pointed out to Harry that Weasley and Granger were missing. Harry just hoped that Granger refused to help Weasley with his assignments in the future. When he had to work alone, the redhead was rather mediocre, not like his twin brothers, who had a reputation of slyness and inventiveness even in Slytherin house.

"What do you think?" asked Vincent, ignoring the still speaking headmaster, "are they snogging somewhere, Weasley and the mudblood?"

"I wouldn´t put it beneath Weasley to try and bring her around that way," snorted Draco, "but I can´t see the mudblood fall for it. She´s not stupid, and Weasley´s not really a catch."

"If you go for blood status," Gregory said meaningfully.

Harry followed the exchange quietly. As he himself had never been interested in a girl that way – why would he, when he and Draco had so much fun! – it had never even occured to him that Weasley and Granger being a boy and a girl could be of any significance.

His musings were interrupted by Professor Quirrell entering at a run. "Troll!" the man shouted. "Troll in the dungeons!" Then he fainted in the middle of the aisle, between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff table.

There was a terrible racket. Most of the students had never faced – or even seen – a troll and were scared of the unknown.

The headmaster asked for silence in a magically magnified voice and then ordered the houses back to their common rooms. Uncle Severus hurried down to the Slytherin table and instructed the Slytherins to stay away from their dungeon and go to the library instead.

The snakes obeyed and walked up the marble staircase instead of down to the dungeons. The prefects led the way and whenever they had to turn around a corner, some seventh years looked first whether it was safe.

It was a mistake though, to secure the front of the group and not the back. The troll emerged from a bathroom, his club raised, just when the rear of the Slytherin crowd – the first years who were supposed to be safest hiding behind their older housemates – passed. Pansy Parkinson, one of the girls, stood, petrified with fear and shrieked at the top of her lungs. The troll turned to her and struck, but Harry was quicker.

"Wingardium leviosa!" he shouted the first spell that came to his mind.

It was a ridiculous spell to attack a troll with, but it was good enough. The club hung in midair above the troll and the few seconds the troll needed to regain the little wits it had were enough for the seventh years to run to the end of the crowd and stun the dumb creature.

Pansy fell on Harry´s neck and gave him a very wet kiss for saving her life. The boy thought it was strange that people would want that, but then Pansy was still scared and all the other boys looked at Harry in awe for being publicly kissed.

Uncle Severus and professor McGonagall came down the corridor at a run.

"Oh my God!" cried the witch at the sight of the troll.

Uncle Severus sent his Slytherins back to their dormitories – the dungeons were obviously safe now – and the head of Gryffindor looked into the room behind the troll. When Harry and his friends walked down the stairs, they heard the woman shriek for the school nurse in a terrified voice.

-x-

Rumour had it that Weasley and Granger had been injured badly by the troll, but nobody knew for certain. The other Weasley boys looked rather worried, so Harry assumed it was true.

It was only three weeks later that the two returned to lessons. Weasley limped badly and Granger´s face was marred by an angry red scar that ran down her left cheek. Both kept glaring at Harry and Draco angrily, as if they blamed the two Slytherins for what had happened.

-x-

Christmas couldn´t come soon enough for Harry. Although he knew that what had happened to Weasley and Granger – one of the older boys had been told by one of Weasley´s brothers that the limp was going to be permanent and Granger´s scar would be there for life – was not his doing, the angry looks the two Gryffindors shot at him and Draco were becoming unnerving. Draco felt uncomfortable, too, Harry could tell, but the blond boy was better at hiding his feelings. He even managed to insult Granger in potions two days before the holidays started.

Father himself picked the boys up at King´s Cross and apparated them home. Mother was waiting in the dining room with a small snack waiting – the vastest assortment of cakes and sweets either Harry or Draco had seen in their lifetime.

Strangely enough she fell on Harry´s neck before greeting Draco, who normally was her favourite. "Oh, Harry!" the woman cried, "we were informed you were nearly killed by that troll! We will sue Dumbledore for the petty security measures at Hogwarts, of course!"

"It was nothing, Mother," Harry hurried to inform her. "The troll was going after Pansy, not me. I was in no danger at all."

Narcissa paled. "Don´t you ever say anything so foolishly Gryffindorish in this house ever again!" she demanded in a hushed voice. "You were in great danger and you will admit it freely when the Parkinsons come here to thank you."

"The Parkinsons are coming?" asked Draco, who was finally wrapped in a welcoming embrace.

"They are. Mr. Parkinson asked to meet you today, but your father pointed out that both of you need to recover from the ordeal first. They´re coming tomorrow."

"Mother," grinned Draco, "the whole thing happened nearly two months ago!"

"We won´t allow this minor detail to belittle your merits, will we? You saved the Parkinson girl´s life and that´s all there is to it. Have some cocoa now."

The Parkinsons arrived shortly before lunch the next day. Pansy wore a very girlish flowery dress and her parents and older brothers (Brutus and Marcus) were dressed in elegant, fine robes.

Harry felt a bit awkward when all four of the older Parkinsons thanked him for saving their youngest family member and Draco for assisting in doing so.

They had lunch together, which was more festive than it normally would have been. Pansy was seated between Harry and Draco and poured them water whenever their glasses were in danger of becoming empty. Father had informed the boys to expect such behaviour. It was an old way of expressing her gratitude.

When the Parkinsons had left, Lucius assembled his family in front of the fireplace in the library. He poured a tumbler of fine liquour for himself and a small glass of sherry for his wife.

"You may not realise it," he said solemnly, "but you made an important alliance today. The Parkinsons are grateful for you saving their daughter. They brought a gift for each of you today – a magical object which will be kept for you in your vaults until you are old enough to appreciate it – and whenever the house of Malfoy – or Potter – will be in need of an ally, the Parkinsons will be willing to help. I ask you be nice to Pansy at Hogwarts."

"We will," the boys chorussed. They hadn´t realised how important Harry´s little spell had been, but they knew enough about house politics to know about allies and how to keep them happy.

Narcissa smiled. "Harry, you may want to be especially nice to her. As you are a halfblood by birth, it may be difficult to find a pureblood bride when time comes. The Parkinsons are a very old wizarding family and Pansy´s blood is as pure as a young wizard can wish for."

"And she´s rich," added Lucius. "Not that you need it, but it won´t hurt."

Harry was dumbfounded. He was eleven! How could Mother and Father think of him getting married! Beside him, Draco giggled.

"Don´t look so scared," laughed Lucius and put his hand on Harry´s shoulder heavily. "You have plenty of time to get married, but it won´t hurt to know your options, will it?"

"No, Father," Harry said in a small voice and Lucius roared with laughter. "You scared the boy, Narcissa. You don´t have to marry Pansy if you don´t like her, Harry."

"They´d look good together, with the dark hair and all," Narcissa insisted, but she smiled, amused.

Two days after Christmas, Uncle Severus visited and the story of Narcissa´s marriage plans for Harry was repeated, but after that it wasn´t mentioned again.

-x-

The two boys returned to Hogwarts with their trunks full of Christmas presents. Both had gotten their own chess sets. Draco´s was cut out of white marble and the pieces had a vampiric air about them. Harry´s was made of black onyx and the pieces resembled gargoyles. Of course neither set was new. They had once belonged to chess masters and thus were able to give good advice to their new masters.

They also owned now an assortment of new, expensive clothes. Silk shirts and soft wool sweaters. The best among their new wardrobes were matching winter cloaks. They didn´t meet the Hogwarts rules to the letter as the fastenings were decorated with green stones, but green and silver were Slytherin colours, so Lucius guessed the cloaks were going to be tolerated.

The day before the boys left, Dobby had barely left the kitchen at all. The small elf had baked and cooked the boys favourite treats and enchanted them to stay fresh until Easter if needed.

Lessons were becoming more and more challenging, but Harry and Draco didn´t mind. They were both gifted, had plenty of knowledge their teachers weren´t aware of and enjoyed their education greatly but History of Magic.

"Class, look at Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Potter´s daisy roots. This is the correct to cut them, not the mash most of you are making. One point to Slytherin for each of you." Uncle Severus smiled at the boys.

Again the Malfoy boys were faster and better than their peers and thanks to their tutulage, the rest of Slytherin outdid the Gryffindors, with whom they shared the lesson, easily.

Draco rose to fetch some more powdered chicken bones for Vincent´s potion. He stopped when he passed Weasley´s table. "What," he snickered, "didn´t your mommy feed you over the holidays that you´re trying to cook soup instead of brewing a potion? This is no cooking course, you know?" He shook his head in laughter and proceeded to the store cupboard.

Everything happened very fast. Weasley jumped to his feet and grabbed Draco from behind. The blond yelped as the redhead pulled his hair. He whirled around, only to be punched on his nose.

A girl screamed.

Harry was the fastest to react. He shot a stinging hex at Weasley. The Gryffindor cried out and jumped back, which gave Draco enough room to retaliate and place his own fist on his opponent´s nose. Weasley tumbled back another step and collided with his work table. The impact knocked over three cauldrons: his own, Granger´s and Brown´s.

Brown wasn´t at the table at the time her potion was spilled over her seat. She shrieked and dropped the jar of trout scales she had just fetched from the store cupboard. The scales reacted violently with the brew on the floor. Brown fumes rose instantly.

Granger was not so lucky. She had been writing down something when her cauldron was knocked over. The hot potion flooded all over her stomach and legs. The girl screamed in agony.

Her shrieks of pain were joined by Weasley´s, who was splashed by his own brew.

Uncle Severus reacted instantly. He cast cooling charms over Weasley and Granger, caught the brown fumes with a shield charm, preventing it from spreading all over the classroom. The last spell was a quick "Episkey!" on Draco´s nose.

Then he dismissed the class, placed Granger on a stretcher and accompanied her, Weasley, Brown and Draco to the hospital wing. Harry went with his brother although he hadn´t been invited by the teacher, but Uncle Severus let it pass.

The school nurse treated Granger, who had been injured worst, first. Brown only got a small dose of calming draught and Weasley a cooling salve.

"Mr. Malfoy´s nose is in perfect condition," she proclaimed after a quick diagnostic spell. "No permanent damage done." She dismissed everybody but Granger.

Half an hour later Harry, Draco and Weasley found themselves in the headmaster´s office.

"You have to see that violent behaviour can and will not be tolerated," said the headmaster sadly. "Mr. Weasley, I´m most disappointed. You come from an old and honorable wizarding family. This behaviour is unheard of with your brothers."

"Malfoy started the whole thing! And Potter hit me with a hex!" the Gryffindor replied hotheadedly.

"Mr. Malfoy may have teased you, but you retaliated with physical violence." The headmaster was all disappointment. "Mr. Potter used a harmless stinging hex to stand up for his brother, I was informed." Harry nodded. He was going to thank Father for drubbing into him which spells to use in a school fight and which not.

Weasley glared at the two Slytherins angrily.

"I will inform your parents of your behaviour, Mr. Weasley. You are dismissed, boys."

"Thank you, headmaster," Draco and Harry chorussed politely.

They giggled all they way down to the dungeons.

-x-

Weasley got a rather nasty and humiliating howler from his mother the next day. The whole school was assembled for breakfast when the red envelope arrived and delivered its message.

"Ronald Weasley!" the magically magnified voice of a woman screeched. "How dare you! The headmaster wrote to us to inform you of your despicable behaviour! I thought I´d die of humiliation! Never before has a child of mine brought shame on the familily. Brawling like a common muggle! One more act of rule-breaking and you will be home-schooled! What kind of example do you set for your little sister!"

The envelope combusted and the ashes fell on Weasley´s breakfast.

Draco and Harry laughed and the other Slytherins followed their lead.

-x-

Slytherin and Gryffindor had been rivals for centuries, but whatever had happened in the past was nothing compared to the enemity that occured between the houses that spring.

It had started with the first years, but the older years joined the fight only too happily. It was an endless chain of pranks, retaliations and counter-attacks. As the year wore on, the incidents became more and more severe, but Slytherins weren´t Slytherins for nothing. Gryffindor took most of the blame.

Around Easter there were the first injuries, most of them Gryffindors of course. The upper year Slytherins had started secret extra duelling lessons for their younger housemates in February, so every Slytherin was able to outdo the average Gryffindor from their own year. As long as the Gryffindor NEWT students didn´t stoop to attacking the youngest Slytherins, the house was safe. And it was agreed that doing just that would go against Gryffindor´s weird sense of honour.

The most exciting event of the school year took place in late May. And on first sight, it had nothing to do with Gryffindor at all.

Harry had run into Uncle Severus on his way from the dungeons to the library and the potions master had asked him for a minute of his time.

"Your mother has invited me for her summer barbecue. I was wondering whether you had an idea what I could bring as a gift." The potions master led Harry to the main entrance, where it was unlikely for them to be overheard.

"You know how much she loves gardening. Something for her flower beds would be most welcome, I guess." Harry smiled. "Father got her these really rare Tibetan roses for Easter. They talked how difficult it was to come by fertilizer for them."

"Hm, that could be a useful idea."

Harry winked. "If nothing else comes to your mind, you can still bring some toys for her sons."

"Cheeky prat!" Uncle Severus scolded, a smirk playing around his lips. He yelped when he was pushed aside from behind. "Quirrell! Explain yourself!"

The Defense teacher chuckled madly and grabbed Harry to push him out of the way, too. The moment he touched the boy, his laughter died and was replaced by a pained scream. The man raised his hands and looked at them in horror. The skin was an angry red and blisters bubbled on the surface, but within seconds it turned a dark gray as if burnt to ashes. It was the right impression. When a gust blew over the castle Quirrell´s fingers turned to dust and waved away.

The man screamed again, but the burns didn´t stop at his hands. The whole wizard turned to ashes and disappeared with the wind. His robes and turban fell to the ground with a thud. When Harry thought that everything was over, a whirlwind occured above the spot where Quirrell´s clothes lay. For a moment, the boy thought he spotted a face in the wind, but then it was gone.

"What was that?" gasped Harry.

Uncle Severus was deathly pale. He clutched his left arm to his chest and panted as if he had just run up the whole way from the gates. "His soul!" he panted. "His soul!" The wizard stumbled closer to the pile of clothes and bent to pick them up. When he gathered the robes in his arms, a dark red stone cluttered to the floor.

"Thanks Merlin!" gasped the potions master. "Harry, go to the common room and wait for me there. The headmaster will want to talk to you, I´m sure." That said, Uncle Severus hurried away.

-x-

On second sight the incident had a lot to do with Gryffindor. It seemed that a group of the lions had spent most of the school year figuring out one of the school´s best guarded secrets, the whereabouts of the philosopher´s stone.

The substance was able to create wealth and eternal life, and professor Quirrell had nearly succeeded in stealing it. The fact that he had come as far as he had, was mostly due to Gryffindor foolhardiness. Weasley, Granger, Longbottom and Finnegan had followed him down where the stone was kept.

Quirrell hadn´t been able to get the stone out of the mirror. It had taken a foolish Gryffindor – Finnegan – to free the stone and the boy had paid for it with his life. Quirrell had killed him the moment he had laid hand on the stone.

Everybody was sure that he had killed the whole group if it hadn´t been for the fact that Granger had stayed behind to tend to Weasley who had been injured in a chess game – Harry and Draco had a good laugh at that idea – and Longbottom had nearly broken his neck in his attempt to catch a winged key.

The headmaster dealed with the Gryffindors first. Weasley and Granger took most of the blame for enabling the traiterous Defense teacher to steal the stone and getting Finnegan killed in the course.

Granger´s parents were shocked, but not able to do much. They entrusted the headmaster with their daughter´s punishment. Rumour had it that Granger was to serve detention with Filch every Wednesday evening for the whole of her second school year.

Weasley was not so lucky. His mother came to Hogwarts personally to rage at him for several hours.

The headmaster made use of Uncle Severus´s office for his talk to Harry. The old man babbled on about Harry´s mother and a sacrifice she had made to protect him. Harry barely listened. He was on tenterhooks to leave the office and join the Slytherins´ victory party. After the loss of points Gryffindor had suffered for Weasley´s escapade, Slytherin had practically won the House Cup.

The party was well in progress when Harry finally returned to the Common Room.

"At last!" cried Draco. He handed Harry a chocolate muffin and a bottle of butterbeer. "Friends! I give you the man who stopped professor Quirrell and brought the House Cup to Slytherin!"

The Slytherins cheered and clapped. Harry had to drink a lot of butterbeer that evening.

-x-

Lucius joined Severus near the rose beds.

"Did you try the cherry pie?" He handed the potions master a small plate.

"Thank you." The black clad wizard watched the other guests from under his lashes. The Malfoys´ garden parties were famous among the old families and the others who respected the traditional ways of living.

"Tell me, how were Draco and Harry doing this school year?"

"You were informed about their exams," Severus pointed out.

"You know what I mean."

"They came to Hogwarts well prepared. They not only did well in their exams, they also found friendship in Slytherin. They are well respected within the house and their peers look up to them. Malfoy house is making important connections through the boys."

"Excellent."

The potions master took a spoonful of cake. "You are right. The pie is excellent." He smiled.

-x-

The summer was nearing its end far too soon. Lucius and Narcissa had missed the boys dearly while they were at Hogwarts and spoiled them rotten once they had them back. The witch treated them with exquisite sweets and cakes as well as toys. Lucius taught them magic whenever he had time to.

Draco and Harry enjoyed both, the treats and the lessons, and the day Lucius announced they were going to get their new school books was not a happy one despite the prospect of more presents and treats at Diagon Alley.

The wizarding shopping mile was crowded as ever.

"I wonder what Father has planned for today," drawled Draco as they entered Florish and Blott´s. "We could easily have gotten our stuff last week when the shops were not so crowded."

"Do you have any idea?" Harry asked curiously.

"No, you?"

"Not at all, but I don´t care. As long as so many people are around, Father will want to show off. Be prepared to get a lot of treats, brother."

Draco laughed happily and they made their way to the books on dark creatures.

The two boys glared around, irritated. True, Diagon Alley was crowded, but that didn´t explain why the book shop was so full they could barely squeeze through the crowd towards the shelves they wanted to see.

"Do you have an idea what this is about?" asked Draco.

Harry pointed to the front of the store, where flashes of light gave away the presence of the press. "Some celebrity, I guess."

"Let´s see." Draco pushed his way past some young witches and Harry followed in his wake, making use of his elbows when necessary.

At the front of the store posed a blond wizard in lavender robes for a reporter of the Daily Prophet. He smiled widely, flashing his teeth at the assembled crowd of mostly witches.

"He looks even better than in Witch Weekly!" a blonde witch pointed out to her friend. The friend, a plump curly redhead, nodded. "I can´t believe I´m going to talk to Gilderoy Lockhart!"

"That´s the guy who wrote half of our school books!" Harry whispered to Draco urgently.

The blond boy sneered. "What can he teach us but to enchant elderly ladies?" He looked around at the assembled witches with despise.

"Draco, a little bit more respect," Lucius drawled from behind. "The man is going to be your Defense teacher."

"How do you know?" whispered Harry.

The older Malfoy smirked. "You forget that I am on the board of governors."

The boys looked at each other, disgusted. The man seemed petty from afar! Father was definitely right when he said that the headmaster was a very strange old coot. Professor Quirrell´s lessons had been ridiculous at times, but that vain peacock who probably spent half of his time at the hairdresser´s was going to be worse, that much was sure.

On their way to the back of the shop, where the interesting books were, Draco pointed Harry at a small crowd of redhaired people among the elderly witches waiting for one of Lockhart´s signed photos.

"Weasley!" spat the blond.

"Just ignore him," Harry said with a calm he didn´t feel. "Father won´t thank us if we start a fight in here."

"You´re right," admitted Draco and they walked around a bookshelf to be shielded from the other boy´s view.

They didn´t stay hidden from Weasley for long though. The back of the store was also the home of stacks of used, battered books and the Weasley family came to look at just those. Luckily the redhead seemed embarrassed by the fact that he and his siblings got only other people´s castaway books and ignored Harry and Draco, who chose some – very expensive – books on vampires and werewolves while their father arranged for their school books to be sent to the Manor.

When Lucius was done with his purchases, he joined the boys and looked at the books they had chosen. He praised them for the useful literature they had found, all the while watching the Weasley family from behind a veil of his long blond hair. When the redhaired clan had made their way to the counter he ushered his own charges towards the exits.

Both boys complied easily. The way the man had watched the blood-traitors it was clear that he had some sort of plan and although neither boy knew what it was about they were not going to spoil it.

"Arthur," sneered Lucius when he ran into the very man at the exit, "what a pleasure to meet you outside of the ministry." His tone made it very clear how much of a pleasure the meeting was for him. "And you brought your children. All of them. Oh, no, wait! There have to be more. The eldest is missing." He did a head count, pointing the index of his left hand at the red heads one after the other. "And another one. You must admit it´s not easy to keep track, the way you produce them."

He walked along the small line of redheaded children. "Really," he drawled lazily. "I wonder what the sense is in getting more children than you can provide for." He lifted a particularly battered potions text out of the smallest (and only) girl´s cauldron. "Really! Disgusting! I´m tempted to buy you a better book, child. But it would only make you disappointed in what your father is able to give you." He thumped the book back into the cauldron.

A fist made contact with Lucius´s jaw, but the wizard must have anticipated an attack. He fought back in an instant. Harry and Draco took several steps back to give their father enough room to move.

The fight ended when a plump redhaired witch came running. "Arthur!" she cried and Harry recognised the voice of Weasley´s howler immediately. "What kind of example are you setting for your sons! Brawling in public! Stop it immediately."

It was clear that the woman must have been in Gryffindor in her time at Hogwarts for she stepped between the fighting wizards without batting a lash, turning her back on Lucius in the course. Harry thought it was no wonder Weasley was such an idiot with these parents. Part of him pitied the boy. His father a hotheaded fool who raised to every bait no matter how obvious it was, and his mother rushing in the middle of a fight and turning her back on the enemy. Harry snorted before he followed Draco and Lucius out of the shop. Lucius cast a mild healing spell on his cheek. The scratch he had there looked painful, but the wizard grinned like the cat who had stolen the cream.

After the bookshop, they went to Madam Malkin´s. Both boys got a new wardrobe, trousers, robes, shoes, everything. "You will need them new anyway rather sooner than later. You´re growing boys after all." Narcissa had finished her own clothes shopping by the time her three men arrived and helped the boys choose.

Both had developed an excellent taste in clothes, so her help was not really needed, but discussing styles and materials was fun. And the boys knew that if their mother enjoyed herself at the clothes shop, they were more likely to get gifts in any shop they visited later.

By the evening, both boys had new broomsticks, new cages for their owls, a vast hord of owl treats, new cards and frisbees and a two months supply of chocolates.


	6. Chapter 6

It was strange to watch the sorting from the Slytherin table. It seemed only yesterday that the Malfoy boys had waited for their own sorting with the other first years.

Slytherin got a bunch of new housemates, but Draco and Harry knew none of them. "Can´t come from any interesting houses," whispered Draco. "Or father would have made sure we knew them." Lucius and Narcissa had made sure that the boys socialised with the right people from a young age. Harry and Draco were acquainted to people most adults could only dream of.

The last to be sorted was Ginevra Weasley, the little girl they had seen at Flourish and Blott´s the other day. She went into Gryffindor. "Surprise, surprise," Harry muttered under his breath and Draco chuckled.

Like the boys had anticipated, Defense lessons were a joke. Lockhart was a wingless peacock, as Pansy put it so smartly after their first lesson. He droned on about how charming his smile was and that he was a celebrity. He even set them a test on his person!

First Harry thought he was going to fail miserably. Not that he thought knowing about the vain man might be useful, but being a true Slytherin, he was aware that it would be wise to stay in the man´s good books. And Harry was in Lockhart´s good books. The man nearly peed himself when he realised he was going to teach the Boy Who Lived. Luckily Harry remembered a useful little spell he had learned during the summer. He aimed at Granger carefully and muttered his spell. Draco, who shared a desk with him, smirked and repeated the action. After two more spells on their quills, the eagle feathers faithfully noted down whatever Granger wrote on her paper.

After a little while Harry realised it would be wise to actually read what the quill wrote and erase some parts. Merlin! The Gryffindor know-it-all practically mooned over the new defense teacher. She knew every petty detail about the man! She knew his birthday, his favourite colour, his favourite sweets, his dearest ambition, everything!

"I bet she knows which toilet paper he uses," muttered Draco. They both chuckled.

Not only did the man waste a whole hour on that stupid test, he spent the rest of the lesson correcting it in class! Harry made a mental note to complain to Uncle Severus. They were here to learn and become more powerful! Not to watch an idiot read idiot tests!

"Excellent!" Lockhart clapped his hands and got up from behind his desk. "There are several very promising young witches and wizards in this group. Your results were far better than those of most other years." He reached into his pocket with a flourish. "Some of you even deserve a reward." He handed a signed photo to Granger, and then – Harry wished the floor would swallow him – came to Harry and Draco to give them one, too.

"Thank you, Sir," Draco hinted a bow.

Harry followed his lead. "I will put it on my bedside table."

"Right beside Mother and Father´s pictures," Draco delivered in a deadpan tone.

"I´m honoured, Mr. Potter." Lockhart bowed with another flourish.

Harry thought Draco´d burst out laughing any minute, but luckily they were saved by the bell. They giggled all the way down to the dungeons. Once they had reached Slytherin territory, they gave up their restaints and roared with laughter.

"That was ingenious! I wouldn´t have thought of that spell," grinned Draco when they entered the potions classroom.

Harry smirked, content with himself.

Uncle Severus entered in his usual flourish of robes. "Let´s see what you remember from last year," he said without preamble and with a flick of his wand another stack of test papers made its way to the students.

Harry and Draco winked at each other and applied their little spell again.

When Uncle Severus had collected the papers, he set them an easy infusion of wolfsbane for the rest of the lesson. The task was easy enough and the two boys made plans for their evening while they worked.

The potions master moved from table to table, breathing down the Gryffindors´ necks and helping the Slytherins.

"So, this is how you did it," he muttered under his breath when he leaned over the Malfoy boys´ cauldron. "Twenty points to Slytherin for the use of an advanced spell." The boys beamed, but Uncle Severus wasn´t finished yet. "And twenty points from Slytherin for trying to cheat in my class." The man glared at the boys sternly, but when he turned away, he smiled.

-x-

Of course Harry and Draco didn´t try that spell in potions again, but they put it to good use in other subjects and at the library, when it came to doing their homework. A month into the school year, Draco had the idea to spell two of their quills to copy their homework. Their handwriting was similar enough to fool Lockhart and Sprout, although not McGonagall.

"But Sir! We are brothers! It´s only to be expected that we do our homework together!" they chorussed when Lockhart pointed out that their homework was the same to the letter for the fourth time in a row.

Vincent and Gregory asked the Malfoy brothers for the spell they used. First Harry was reluctant to give it to them. If more Slytherins handed in twin essays, even a dimwit like Lockhart was bound to catch on what was going on. Draco smiled at Harry reassuringly and told their friends the spell and Harry soon saw the elegance of the action.

The two other boys were grateful for getting the spell – which meant their bond of friendship got even tighter – but neither was able to perform it. As a result Harry and Draco´s little secret stayed just that.

In the middle of October Lockhart brought a cage full of Cornish pixies to class. Harry and Draco rolled their eyes. Cornish pixies were annoying little creatures, but neither useful nor really dangerous. They were easy to fend off, Immobilus would do the trick, and therefore avoided witches and wizards if they could. The cage held more than a dozen of the blue creatures. Harry wondered who had sold Lockhart so many. Cornish pixies lived – according to one of the books in the Malfoy library – in small groups of not more than 7 adults plus their babies, but none of the pixies in the cage looked like a baby or child.

"Too many," muttered Draco warningly. "They´ll play havoc in here."

Harry didn´t wait for Draco to continue. He cast a shielding spell on himself and whispered to his other neighbour, Pansy, to do so, too. Draco followed Harry´s lead and warned Vincent. By the time Lockhart opened the cage, the Slytherins were well protected, but not the Gryffindors.

The pixies destroyed Weasley´s inkwell – Harry smirked when he thought of the howler Weasley was to get when his mother had to buy him a new one – and splattered Granger´s textbook with ink. Three of them even got hold of Longbottom – was that boy really magical? – and pulled him up to the ceiling, leaving him hanging on the chandelier.

Harry and Draco shared a good laugh before they pretended to fight their way to the door. Thanks to their magical shields there wasn´t really a fight, but no Slytherin wanted to be blamed for not warning the Gryffindors.

Weasley, Granger and the rest of the Gryffindor crowd were late for lunch. Weasley was pale, but nothing next to Longbottom who shivered like a shaky boletus (a magical fungus used for calming potions). Granger´s hair was even bushier than usually. A shock of hair hung across her face.

"She should always wear it like that," drawled Pansy. "It hides that hideous scar of hers."

The Slytherin table roared with laughter and the glares they got from Gryffindor told that the other house was quite aware who they were laughing at.

-x-

Two days later, the pixie incident was forgotten.

Mrs. Norris, Filch´s nasty flea-infested cat was found petrified in a corridor. There was a writing on the wall saying that the Chamber of Secrets had been opened.

"Enemies of the heir, beware!" Draco read out the rest of the blood red writing in his clear carrying voice.

The assembled students shuddered and turned to look at the blond.

Draco clearly enjoyed the attention. He gazed at Justin Finch-Fletchley, a Hufflepuff. "You will be next, mudbloods!" Draco smirked when the other boy moved closer to his housemates.

Filch was livid and scared. Harry and Draco knew better than to come near the irritated man. The Gryffindors present were not so wise and promptly found themselves accused of having cursed the caretaker´s pet.

It would have been fun to watch Filch rage on, but unfortunately Dumbledore was quick to arrive and put an end to the scene. Draco shrugged and Harry smirked. As soon as the headmaster had taken over, the Malfoy boys disappeared to the dungeons. The old wizard wasn´t very likely to do something interesting and they could learn from their housemates what had happened later.

Harry had more pressing matters on mind.

"You will be next, mudbloods? Is there anything you want to tell me?" he asked the blond as soon as they had reached Slytherin´s lair.

Draco snorted. "Don´t tell me you fell for it, too. I was just trying to scare the idiots. It worked."

"You mean to tell me you don´t know about the Chamber of Secrets?"

"It wouldn´t be a secret if I knew, would it?"

"If you don´t, your show was superb!"

"Yes," Draco replied smugly. "I´m quite pleased with the effect."

"Do you think Father knows about the Chamber?" Harry asked curiously.

"It can´t hurt to ask, I guess."

The boys spent half an hour writing a letter to their father for information concerning the Chamber of Secrets and the mysterious heir.

-x-

Lucius´s answer was short and came quickly.

The Chamber of Secrets was built by Salazar Slytherin himself. It contains means to rid the school of mudbloods. The legend says that only his true heir can open it. Fifty years ago the heir made an appearance and a mudblood was killed. Be careful and don´t let curiousity get you into trouble. Keep Harry away from danger. He´s not pureblood and we don´t want him to be mistaken for a mudblood by the Chamber´s magic.

Harry swallowed hard when Draco showed him the letter. If Father was worried, they had to be careful.

-x-

The next day Lockhart made an announcement at breakfast. The idiot had got permission to start a duelling club! Harry and Draco smirked. This was going to be fun! The older Slytherins had tutored their younger housemates the year before, when the rivalry between Slytherin and Gryffindor had taken on new dimensions. The duelling club was going to be an excellent cover for kicking some Gryffindor backsides.

It was soon clear that Uncle Severus had been thinking along similar lines. He had volunteered to be Lockhart´s assistant!

"Gather around! Gather around!" cried the defense teacher as he stepped up on an small stage which had been magicked into the Great Hall for the occasion. The assembled students obeyed and listened to the man as he droned on about what a good fighter he was and how he was going to train them.

"So, before you can try your abilities on the battle field yourself, let me demonstrate how a duel works. Please, welcome my assistant, professor Snape." Lockhart flourished one of his lavender arms at the black clad wizard.

The potions master moved smoothly like a snake. It rather looked like he was gliding than walking.

The two wizards bowed to each other and then Uncle Severus hit Lockhart with Expelliarmus, a baby spell! Lockhart was nearly killed. Several of his female fans fainted while Uncle Severus smirked with mirth.

Harry chuckled when the selfproclaimed defense expert hit the ground with a loud thud. Uncle Severus could have finished him off at leasure, but of course he didn´t. The potions master presented a calm face to the crowd when he strode forward to offer his victim a hand, but neither Harry nor Draco were fooled. Uncle Severus was enjoying this. A lot.

"Thank you, professor Snape," boomed Lockhart when he had struggled to his feet without assistance. Uncle Severus made a show of standing beside him with his hand extended, making the man look like a fool even more. "What a splendid idea to demonstrate this. Of course it was pretty obvious what you were going to do and – had I chosen to – it would have been too easy to prevent it."

"A piece of cake," agreed Uncle Severus. "Perhaps it would be wise to teach your fans how to block unfriendly spells first."

"I was just going to suggest it." Lockhart gave a lecture on how to raise a protective shield, he showed wand movements, but every Slytherin could tell he wasted too much time on flourish and showing off. In a real duel, Lockhart would be easy prey.

When Lockhart had showed off for his fans (mostly girls, Granger prominent among them) to his heart´s content, they were teamed up in pairs to practice. Harry and Draco formed a team as soon as it was mentioned and Uncle Severus nodded when he walked past them. If it hadn´t been for the potions master, chaos would never have ended. "Be careful," he muttered as he walked by.

As soon as Lockhart signalled for the duels to start, the Malfoy brothers started their own little fun. They circled each other like lions waiting for an opportunity to strike. From time to time one threw a spell at the other, but for the unaware spectator it seemed they never hit their target.

Of course the contrary was true. Each single hex and jinx hit its target. Weasley was hit with talantallegra, making him tapdance vigorously. It must hurt like hell with his ruined leg. Longbottom grew fangs after he had been hit with a "stray" spell. Granger´s hair turned green, several Gryffindors were covered in pimples.

"Serpensortia!" Draco grinned at Harry as he threw the spell over the green eyed boy´s shoulder at the Gryffindors. A girl screamed when a black snake landed among the lot.

Everybody in the Great Hall stopped their duels to look what the racket was about. The snake obviously didn´t like the attention, for it hissed, struck at Granger and fled towards where Harry and Draco were standing. People jumped out of the reptile´s way, but Harry couldn´t move. He stared at the snake, mesmerised.

"Leave me alone!" he hissed at the snake and strangely enough it obeyed. "Yes, Master!" it hissed back.

People looked at Harry in shock, but were distracted by Granger landing on the floor. Uncle Severus elbowed his way through the crowd.

"The snake bit her," cried Patil.

Uncle Severus didn´t need more information. He produced a vial of potion from his pocket and applied several drops to the small wound on Granger´s ankle.

Harry used the distraction to stoop and let the snake slide up his arm. "Hide under my sleeve," he ordered.

"Yes, Master!" the snake wrapped its lithe body around Harry´s arm twice.

"Where is the snake?" thundered Uncle Severus once he had done for Granger what he could. "Be careful, it´s poisonous!"

"It fled," Draco pointed at the exit.

The meeting was over. Uncle Severus got Granger to the hospital wing, sent the students to their houses and left the stage to Lockhart.

-x-

"You are a parselmouth!" Draco whispered urgently when they were back in the safety of their dormitory.

Harry sat down on his bed and hissed to the snake that it was safe to come out of its hiding place. The snake slithered down his arm and curled in on the white blanket. "Your lair is very soft, Master!" it said. "Will I be allowed to sleep here?"

"If you promise to behave," Harry said earnestly. "You will neither bite me nor anybody else unless I tell you to."

"What is in it for me?" asked the snake.

"You may sleep in my bed and I will feed you."

"Oh!" the snake wiggled with joy, "it´s a comfortable life you offer! I will be good."

"Good, then tell me your name so I can call you."

"My name is Shamira," the snake slithered closer to Harry and laid its head on his thigh. "I´m tired. May I sleep now, Master?"

"Yes, but hide behind the pillow. I have to tell my roommates about you. They might attack you if they see you and don´t know you belong to me."

Shamira slithered behind the pillow with a low hiss.

"What was that?" Draco asked curiously.

"I allowed Shamira to sleep behind my pillow," Harry smiled. "It may come in handy to have a snake around."

"Indeed," grinned Draco. "We should tell Father that you can speak parsel. He will know what to do."

Harry agreed and an hour later, Harriet – Draco´s black owl – was on her way to Malfoy Manor.

-x-

It took Vincent and Gregory quite long to come back to the dorm. Draco and Harry were beginning to suspect they had missed something important and it was confirmed when the two large boys finally rushed into the room.

"Finch-Fletchley has been petrified!" panted Vincent.

"They say Weasley found him when he wanted to go to the hospital wing to moon over Granger."

"Finch-Fletchley is a mudblood, isn´t he?" asked Draco.

Harry, Vincent and Gregory all nodded.

"It started!" whispered Draco.

"What started?" asked Gregory.

"What I´m going to tell you must not leave this room," Draco demanded and the other boys agreed. "Father told me that the Chamber of Secrets holds magic to rid the school of mudbloods. Finch-Fletchley is only the first one."

"I hope Granger is next," grinned Harry. Vincent agreed.

"I don´t care who, as long as they´re all removed," grunted Gregory.

"That´s the spirit," Draco laughed.

Harry caught movement on his bed from the corner of his eye. "I have to show you something," he said. "Show yourself," he then hissed in the direction of his pillow.

"The snake!" cried Vincent. He was more worried about a serpent in his dormitory than the fact that it took orders from Harry.

"Snape said it´s poisonous." Gregory took a step back.

"Shamira, these are Draco, Vincent and Gregory. They are allowed to be in this room. Draco is my brother. He´s allowed to touch you."

"Yes, Master," hissed the snake and bowed.

"You may touch her, Draco, but only you."

Draco swallowed hard, but then stepped forward and touched the snake´s head gently. The snake used its tongue to memorise the blond´s scent and Draco giggled when he was tickled.

"He uses the same soap," the snake pointed out.

"Of course, only the best for the Malfoys." Harry laughed.

The boys went to bed not much later.

-x-

Spending a night in a bed with a snake was strange. It wasn´t that Shamira ever touched him, but just knowing the serpent was there gave Harry gooseflesh.

"You don´t need to be afraid, Master," came the snakes soft whisper when the boy tossed and turned for the umpteenth time. "I´m between your pillow and the headboard. We can´t hurt each other by accident."

"Thank you," Harry hissed back equally softly. "It´s good to know where you are. Stay there."

"I will. Good night, Master."

A little later, Harry was fast asleep.

-x-

Father´s answer came with the morning post. He advised Harry to tell nobody of his abilities.

"That´s quite difficult," sighed Harry to Draco. He dropped a bit of bacon to his lap. Shamira made a short appearance from his robe pocket and got it. It was a good thing the snake was as black as the robes. "I spoke it in a hall full of people."

"A hall full of distracted people," Draco soothed. "Not many will have noticed."

It turned out, however, that among the few who had, was Uncle Severus. He called Harry to his office after breakfast.

"So, where did you tell the snake to go," the wizard asked without preamble.

"Tell?" Harry asked innocently.

"Don´t insult my intelligence, Harry. I heard you. Where is the snake?"

Harry hissed something and Shamira made her appearance from the robe pocket.

"Is she safe?" Uncle Severus asked. "You can´t keep her if she bites people."

"She promised not to."

"Do you believe her?"

"I do."

"So be it, but you will be held responsible for her actions."

"Yes, Sir."

-x-

"Are you sure, Severus?" Albus Dumbledore paced his office, resembling a caged tiger.

"I tell you, Albus, I heard it at the hall. The snake was going his direction and it stopped on his orders. And today in my office, he never tried to deny his abilities. When I asked about the snake he called it and it came."

"But how?" Albus stopped in his pacing and stared up at the portrait of Godric Gryffindor. "How can the champion of the light be a parselmouth?"

Godric smiled down at his successor kindly. "Being a parselmouth is not a bad thing."

"Voldemort is one!" cried Albus.

"I´m certain your Voldemort wears robes. That doesn´t make robes evil."

"He´s not MY Voldemort."

"Whatever. You get my point."

"I still can´t understand it!" Dumbledore threw his hands in the air in a gesture of helplessness and resumed his pacing.

"There are more things in the universe than a man can hope to learn in a lifetime."

"You are not being helpful!"

"Do you have any more orders for me?" Severus interrupted.

"No, no. Thank you, Severus. That will be all for now."

Severus Snape returned to the dungeons to teach a bunch of first years how to brew a fever draught.

x-

Lockhart´s foolishness didn´t end at the duelling club idea. He organised an extremely gaudy Christmas party (which was to say something seeing that the Christmas party was usually prepared by Dumbledore himself) and an even gaudier Valentine´s Day Brunch. How he had managed to convince the headmaster to cancel all lessons for the occasion was a well-kept secret, but rumour had it he had pointed out the school needed a bit of fun and joy after more students had been petrified. In November, Clearwater of Ravenclaw had been the victim, two weeks later Bell from Gryffindor and the very next day Creevey from Gryffindor were petrified.

By Valentine´s Day a total of nine muggleborns from all houses but Slytherin lay in the Hospital Wing. Nobody felt like celebrating, but that didn´t stop Lockhart.

The Great Hall was decorated in pink, the food was mostly sweet and/or pink and even the pumpkin juice had been spiked with a colour changing draught. As Lockhart had a certain reputation for his magic abilities, nobody dared drink before the headmaster got up and thanked Uncle Severus for providing the colour changing potion.

The students clapped politely, but Uncle Severus still looked murderous. For some strange reason only Lockhart knew heartshaped pink confetti rained down on the potions master from the roof of the hall and turned into butterflies as soon as they touched the man.

"Flitwick must have helped Lockhart with the butterflies," whispered Harry. "There´s no way Lockhart could have done it."

"I agree," Draco whispered back. "He must have blackmailed him. We should try to find out what he used."

Harry nodded, but it would have to wait. There was no way to find out during the brunch. But he made a mental note to worm it out of the talkative defense teacher at the next occasion.

It came as a shock, when Longbottom was hit by the Chamber´s magic some days after Valentine´s Day. Longbottom was pureblood and the Chamber was supposed to work only on mudbloods. For a while Draco and Harry were upset. If the Chamber mistook Longbottom for a mudblood, they possibly were in danger, too; especially Harry, who was only half-blood.

Strangely enough it was Shamira who put them at ease. "You said the Longbottom child was nearly a squib," she hissed. "Perhaps the Chamber doesn´t go for blood but for magic."

Draco smiled. "In that case Harry is in no danger at all."

"Those who have been petrified aren´t especially powerful," Harry agreed.

"Granger is not bad," Vincent pointed out. He scrutinized his snap cards critically. Which should he play next?

"Granger is not talented, but hard-working," Draco pointed out. "She doesn´t have more magic than any mudblood."

Gregory and Harry agreed and Vincent finally played his next card.

-x-

The Easter holidays were special even for the spoiled Malfoy boys. Lucius and Narcissa took their sons on a journey to the Mediterranean Sea. They apparated to Southern France first, from there to Sicily and then to Cyprus. Their last stop was Egypt. In every place they visited, Lucius showed the boys the most important historical sites. He explained ancient magic, both spells and items, sometimes even potions. They bought books for the boys to study the most powerful magic they heard about in detail once they were back.

Narcissa accompanied her men to the historical sites, but she also made sure to take the boys on shopping sprees in every city. The boys returned to Hogwarts with their trunks full of new clothes, sweets and games.

"I got you some gerbils in Egypt," Harry greeted Shamira whom he had left at Hogwarts for the holidays with some eggs for food. The Malfoys hadn´t opposed to have the snake in their own manor for Christmas after Harry had reassured them that the snake was well-behaved and kind, but Lucius refused to take her on holiday.

"Gerbils?" the snake asked eagerly. "May I try one?"

Harry laughed. "Of course! I didn´t mention them first to withhold them from you later." He reached into the box and lifted one of the little rodents by its tail.

"Can you release it? I haven´t gone hunting for a while!" Shamira begged.

"Urgh! Is that really necessary?" asked Gregory, repulsed by the very idea.

"We´ll go and have breakfast. Be sure to be finished when we return." Harry motioned the boys to leave the dorm. He released the gerbil before he slipped out of the room with a soft "Have fun!"

-x-

"You can´t be serious!" Draco glared at Harry angrily. Seemingly Shamira had caught her prey on Draco´s bed and now the duvet was full of telltale stains. "If your snake doesn´t have table manners, it will have to eat elsewhere!"

"Why is your brother angry?" Shamira asked, irritated. She had never seen her master and his sibling quarrel.

"He doesn´t like the blood on his bed sheets. He says I should feed you elsewhere."

"This room isn´t very good for hunting anyway. I don´t mind eating elsewhere." Shamira offered.

"Then we´ll try to find a different place," said Harry. He repeated the sentence in plain English for Draco´s sake and the blond cleaned his bed, content that it wasn´t going to be dirtied on a regular basis.

-x-

It wasn´t easy to find a room to feed a snake in a castle full of teenagers. Harry didn´t want Shamira to become commonly known about, so they needed a quiet place, but even the socalled empty classrooms were never really empty for a long time. Students used them as meeting places all the time. The younger years to play, the older ones to – well – socialise.

After some research, Harry found the perfect place. It was, strangely enough, a girls´ bathroom. The room was haunted and therefore students avoided the place. Harry didn´t mind the ghost. He never stayed long anyway. Usually he gave Shamira her food – as often as possible he released living prey – and left. He only returned to pick her up some time later.

-x-

Harry was on his way to feed his snake, when he found a crowd of students – mainly Gryffindors and Ravenclaws – gathered near what he thought of as Shamira´s room. The Slytherin moved closer to see what was so exciting. With a feeling of foreboding he realised that the corridor they were in was the very place were Mrs. Norris had been petrified. Had the magic of the Chamber struck again? Was he in danger?

It seemed that the first thing was true, but not the second. There was a new writing on the wall.

"Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber for ever."

The Chamber´s magic had already found a victim. Harry calmed down and continued to the bathroom. He´d just give Shamira her rat (Harry thought it belonged to a Gryffindor, but he wasn´t sure) and then go and tell Draco about what had happened. Shamira certainly had nothing against some extra time for sport with the rat.

-x-

Everything happened so fast that Harry nearly lost track of the events.

He entered the bathroom and put Shamira on the floor. He lifted the wiggling and squeaking rat – ugly thing missed a toe – by its tail and held it over Shamira.

"Open your mouth!" he ordered in the low hiss of parseltongue which had become so familiar over the past months.

One of the sinks slid back and revealed a hole in the floor.

Shamira rose as far as her lithe body would go to get the rat.

The rat squeaked when Harry dropped it in shock due to the new hole in the floor.

The rat turned into a man in midair. Shamira barely managed to escape the fate of being squashed. She struck at her attacker and sank her fangs into his arm. The man howled in pain and tried to get hold of the snake.

Harry defended his pet by stupefying the man. Then he rushed from the room.

He ran into Uncle Severus on the first flight of stairs on his way to the dungeons. Quickly he informed the older wizard of what had happened.

Uncle Severus ran in the direction Harry had come from. He stopped at the portrait of a wizard in a pink nightdress. "Get the headmaster to Myrtle´s bathroom! Now!" bellowed the Head of Slytherin. The old wizard gathered his nightdress, revealing knobbly knees in the course, and ran into the picture of his neighbour, a big fat tabby cat, and from there to the next frame, which held a grumpy goblin.

Harry followed Uncle Severus. In case of danger it was always best to be near the most powerful wizard present.

The headmaster must have apparated, because he arrived at the bathroom barely twenty seconds after Uncle Severus and Harry. Dumbledore looked at the man who had nearly killed Shamira with his mere weight. "Peter!" he spat. The old man looked pained for a moment. Then he looked at the hole in the floor.

"This must be the entrance to the Chamber. I will try to get Miss Weasley. Severus, take Peter and Harry to my office."

"Yes, headmaster." Uncle Severus cast a levitation spell on the man the headmaster had called Peter. Harry hid a still hungry Shamira under his sleeve and followed the older wizard to the headmaster´s office.

Professor McGonagall was already there when the small group arrived. She took Peter from Uncle Severus and bound him to one of the chairs with a powerful spell.

"He was bitten by a snake," said Harry.

"A snake, Mr. Potter?" McGonagall looked at the boy questioningly.

Harry bit his lip and looked at Uncle Severus. He hoped the man would guess which snake and help.

Uncle Severus caught on quickly. "If the hole in the floor was indeed the entrance to Slytherin´s Chamber, the presence of serpents shouldn´t come as a surprise," Uncle Severus pointed out.

The woman raised an eyebrow at her colleague, but stooped to examine Peter´s ankle. "Did you see what the snake looked like?"

"It was two feet long and black," Harry informed the deputy headmistress.

"Severus, do you happen to have an antidote?"

The potions master applied a drop of the potion he had used to save Granger. "It may be too late," he pointed out. "It must be more than ten minutes since the bite. If it was indeed what I think, that´s far too late to apply the antidote."

"If it is, we can at least say that we tried." McGonagall looked at the Peter-man with disgust. Harry wondered what the man had done to enrage the two teachers so much.

Their conversation was interrupted by Dumbledore. He carried the limp body of Ginevra Weasley.

"It was a basilisk," said the old man. "I was too late to save Miss Weasley."

"She´s not petrified," Harry couldn´t help but point out.

"No, she´s not," agreed Dumbledore. "It wasn´t the basilisk which killed her. – Severus, I want you to take Harry to your office and wait for me. I have to contact the Weasleys and the Aurors."

-x-

Harry followed Uncle Severus down to the dungeons meekly. The potions master was tense. Harry could tell that something was terribly wrong, but he had no idea what. The only thing he knew for sure was that being kept in the dark felt scary. He wanted to go and speak with Draco, but Uncle Severus had shaken his head when Harry mentioned it on the spiralling staircase in front of the headmaster´s office.

The fact that Uncle Severus wasn´t ready to let him talk to Draco told even clearer how serious the situation must be. The head of Slytherin wasn´t usually one to follow other people´s orders to the letter if he didn´t have to and if bending the rules a little brought an advantage. It was just the Slytherin way.

They sat in uncomfortable silence at Uncle Severus´s office for a while. Uncle Severus stared at the top of his desk as if it was the most fascinating thing he had encountered in his life and Harry didn´t dare interrupt him.

"Would you like some tea?" Uncle Severus broke the silence abruptly after a good quarter hour of quiet staring.

"Yes, please." Harry smiled shyly. Perhaps things weren´t so bad after all.

Uncle Severus conjured cups and a teapot and produced a small plate of ginger biscuits from a drawer. The two wizards each prepared their tea to their liking.

"I don´t understand," Harry admitted when they both had had their first sip. "What´s wrong?"

"I can´t jump in ahead of the headmaster," sighed the potions master. He eyed Harry worriedly. "But I´m sure he will explain everything once he has sorted things out. It will take a while. The Weasleys won´t get happy news after all."

Harry tried to imagine what it was like to lose a brother or sister. He remembered how it had felt to want to talk to Draco and not be able to. Ronald Weasley and his brothers would never talk to their little sister again. Did they miss her like he missed Draco?

"Why can´t I wait at the dorm?" Harry asked. Draco was at the dorm. Certainly Draco was worried like hell! All the blond knew was that Harry had gone to feed his snake!

"The headmaster said my office."

"Do you mind if I feed Shamira? She didn´t get any food today."

"Go ahead." Uncle Severus bit into a biscuit. He watched with interest when Harry called the snake softly and it slithered out of his sleeve.

"I have only some scraps of bacon for you," Harry confessed apologetically.

"No problem, Master," replied the snake. "I couldn´t stomach a rat now anyway. It was so disgusting! I nearly ate that fat monster!" She twitched her tail nervously, but accepted the little food Harry was able to offer.

Later Uncle Severus gave Harry a potions text to read. They had waited for more than two hours and the boy was bored. The text was on poisons and antidotes. Severus had used it to brew a specific antidote for Shamira´s poison. Ever since Harry had acquired his new pet, the potions master carried that particular vial on him and he had added some of the brew to Madame Pomfrey´s stores.

"This is interesting," said Harry after a few pages. "Why don´t we do that in class?"

"It´s too advanced for second year. Don´t forget that not every student at this school spends their holiday roaming the Malfoy library."

"Father would thank you for filling his library with every Tom, Dick and Harry." Harry blushed.

"No," snickered Uncle Severus. "Only special Harrys are welcome."

Harry grinned. He startled when there was a knock at the door. Uncle Severus pointed his wand at it and the door opened. Harry hadn´t realised that the older wizard had locked the door earlier.

"Hello Harry, hello Severus."

The headmaster sounded deadly tired. He entered the room and in his tow followed a lean man with unkempt black hair and a lank black beard.

With a feeling of foreboding, Harry watched Uncle Severus´s expression darken.


	7. Chapter 7

"What is he doing here?" asked the potions master.

The unknown man glared back at Uncle Severus with equal enmity.

"Sirius has come to claim his right as godfather," said Dumbledore.

"Hang on!" cried Harry. "Sirius like in Sirius Black? The godfather who betrayed my parents?" He remembered the information from his book on the Boy Who Lived only too well. It was Sirius Black´s fault that his parents were dead. He had all but killed them personally.

"Harry," said Sirius Black. "You have been told lies." He moved closer to Harry, tried to lay his hand on the boys shoulder, but retreated quickly when a hissing Shamira made her appearance from under Harry´s robes.

"Let me, Sirius," the headmaster demanded softly. "Harry, when your parents died, everybody thought it was Sirius´s fault, but that´s not true. You revealed the truth today. The traitor was not Sirius, but Peter Pettigrew. He tricked Sirius; made it look like Sirius had committed the crime and killed him and then hid away as a rat. You and your snake forced him out of his hiding place today."

"The rat killed my parents?"

"The rat gave them away to Voldemort," Sirius said hoarsely. "We thought you´d be extra safe if Voldemort thought I was the secret keeper and followed me while Peter and the secret were safe. But we fell for a traitor and your parents died. I´m so glad you survived." Again he stepped closer, and again he had to retreat when Shamira hissed.

"When the Aurors got hold of Peter, he confessed and Sirius was free. He has come to finally act as your godfather." Dumbledore beamed.

"I don´t need a godfather," said Harry. "I have a family."

"And Sirius is very grateful to the Malfoys for taking you in, but he is the person your parents assigned to you. His rights are stronger and he is here to claim you as his son. Like your mother and father intended him to do if they died."

"He can´t be my father!" Harry cried, desperate. "Father is my father!"

"I´m afraid everything is cleared with the ministry. Sirius will take you home today. I agreed as headmaster to give you more time to get to know each other. Your trunk has been packed for you."

"No!" cried Harry. He desperately tried to think of a reason not to leave the school. When Father heard that Sirius Black tried to take Harry away from the family, he was going to fight him nail and tooth. All Harry had to do was make sure that Father could find him. "There are exams next week! I can´t leave the school now!"

"The Minister for Magic himself cancelled all exams. We cannot expect you youngsters to concentrate properly after the traumatic events. A student died after all." Dumbledore sounded sad at the mention of Ginevra Weasley´s death. "Don´t worry, child. You can go with Sirius and we´ll see you again on September, 1st."

"No!" Harry had difficulties to keep himself from stomping his foot like a spoiled toddler.

"Yes." The headmaster gave up his friendly demeanor. "It´s where your parents wanted you to be. You will go with Sirius. This will not be discussed any further."

Defeated, Harry followed his unknown godfather out of the office. He turned at the door and glanced at Uncle Severus pleadingly, but the potions master only shrugged apologetically and smiled awkwardly at the boy. Harry considered to turn and run, but they´d only catch him. The headmaster, rumour had it, was able to apparate within the castle. His chances to escape, the boy decided, were better wherever Sirius Black planned to take him.

-x-

"Where are we going?" Harry demanded to know when he followed Sirius Black down to the gate.

"Home."

For the tiniest of moment hope flared in Harry´s chest, but then he realised that the man was most likely not talking about Malfoy Manor. Harry stopped short.

"Come!" Sirius Black ordered.

Again, Harry considered running, but he knew it was no use at the moment. Better pretend to follow willingly and wait for Black to lower his guard. Harry hurried after the wizard with long strides. "Where is home?" he asked.

"You will see."

"Tell me now!"

"You will see. You don´t need to know now."

"I want to know how far from my family you´re going to take me!"

Sirius Black stopped and turned on his heel. Harry nearly ran into him. "Your family is dead!"

"My biological parents are dead, but my Mother and Father are at my home, waiting for me to return!" Harry shouted angrily. "They won´t allow this! Father will intervene with the Ministry and I will be home by nightfall."

"There´s nothing he can do. A guardianship is a binding magical contract." Sirius Black sneered. "You will live with me and do as I say. Get used to it."

"I don´t want to!" Harry shouted at the top of his lungs.

"It´s not a question of what you want. Your parents made the decision for you the day you were born. And I´m not talking about Cousin Cissy and her bloody husband."

Hearing Black insult Mother and Father made Harry forget his resolution to act tame. "You are nothing but an intruder! I don´t want you to act as my godfather! I want my family!"

Sirius Black lost his patience at that. He grabbed Harry by his arm and shook him violently. "Listen, little boy, my best friend and his wife gave their lives to protect yours and I swore an unbreakable vow the day you were born to do just the same if needed. Are you really stupid enough to think that what you want or don´t want will stop me?" The man sneered at Harry again. "Dream on, boy!"

That said, Black stormed on towards the gates, dragging Harry with him.

The moment they had left the grounds, Black pulled Harry into an ungentle embrace and apparated them away.

-x-

Black released Harry from his embrace – a parody of an affectionate gesture – as soon as they had materialised. He didn´t allow the boy to look around, but pulled him with him towards an old town house. All Harry was able to catch was that they were in a city.

"Kreacher!" bellowed Black upon entering the house and slamming the door closed behind him. "The Master of the House is home!"

"Blood traitor! Besmirching the home of my family! Sullying the blood line with your dishonourable ways!" The voice of a woman screeched loud enough to hurt. Harry looked around for the source of the racket and found the portrait of an elderly woman. By the looks of her she had to be a close relative of Black.

"Mother," hissed the man. "I see you left me a souvenir before your petty existance ended." He smirked. "One more word and I will remove you!"

"Bane of my existance!" shrieked the woman. "I curse the day I gave birth to you!"

Black grinned humourlessly and pointed his wand at the portrait. The spell – he performed it wordlessly – bounced off the canvas without effect.

"Ha!" cried old Mrs. Black. "It will take more magic than is in your watery blood to get rid of me!"

Black aimed again and this time he covered the wall with an extra layer of bricks. "Kreacher!" he the barked again. "Where are you, you useless vermin? Show yourself! This is a direct order!"

The oldest house elf Harry had ever seen shuffled into the hall. He winced when he saw the new brick wall covering the portrait of his former mistress. "Master Sirius. What a pleasure to see you again." The elf bowed, but Harry could tell that his welcome wasn´t sincere. The small frame practically radiated hate. Good. Perhaps he could make the elf an ally.

-x-

The elf took Harry up a narrow staircase. On the second landing he opened a door to a small bedroom.

"This will be Master Harry´s bedroom," said the elf.

The room looked as if it hadn´t been cleaned in decades. A thick layer of dust covered the bed, desk and chair. The carpet was older than the house itself, by the looks of it. Harry thought the chandelier might actually be quite nice, but it was covered with cobwebs and a huge spider crawled down the chain that attached it to the ceiling.

Harry made a mental note not to touch anything in the room. "Kreacher," he said as kindly as he could (surpressing his disgust was not easy), "please go and tell Black that I will not sleep in a broom cupboard. – It´s not your fault, though."

The elf bowed obediently, a small smile playing around his mouth. Seemingly the small servant liked his master being in trouble. "Kreacher will do so as soon as Master allows him to leave the room. If Master Harry permits it, Kreacher will start to clean the room while they are waiting."

"Go ahead," Harry said with an air of magnanimity. "What is he doing down there anyway?" He turned, looking for a spot where he´d not be in the way of the cleaning elf.

Kreacher clicked his fingers and a black feather duster appeared out of thin air. "Master is adding his own spells of protection to the wards. Not that any of the hocuspocus he can do is anything next to what his ancestors did. – Bad Kreacher!" The elf hit himself with the handle of the feather duster.

"Stop it," ordered Harry. Luckily he was used to house elf´s desire to punish themselves at the most strange moments. "You didn´t mean to badmouth your master. I asked."

The small elf smiled and started dusting the frame of a painting. "Kreacher wasn´t punishing himself for badmouthing Master. Kreacher´s Mistress forbade to mention Sirius Black in the same sentence with a honourable member of the noble house of Black."

"Oh, I see," Harry giggled. "Is this one of the honourable members of the house of Black?" He pointed at the darkhaired wizard in the portrait Kreacher was cleaning.

Kreacher lowered his feather duster respectfully. "This is Phineas Nigellus, one of the most successful members of the house. Master Phineas was very powerful and well respected all over the magical community. Headmaster of Hogwarts, he was. The family was very proud."

Harry stepped closer to see the portrait properly.

"Good evening, Sir," he said politely. "I am Harry Potter. I´m a student at Hogwarts."

"Potter?" asked the former headmaster. "Gryffindor, like all Potters, I guess?"

"Slytherin!" Harry corrected the man proudly. "Gryffindors are overly self-confident fools."

"I wouldn´t have guessed there was hope for the Potters," mused the painting, "but it seems that miracles do, indeed, happen."

"Kreacher!" Sirius Black´s voice boomed from the ground floor. The elf clicked his fingers again and the duster disappeared.

"Time for dinner," said the small creature. "Kreacher has orders to bring Master Harry to the kitchen."

"Show the way," Harry indicated the door and the elf proceeded him out and down the stairs.

The kitchen was rather dark and had the same air of neglect as Harry´s new room. The elf went to bustle in the pantry and Harry stood near the door awkwardly.

"I strenghtened the wards," said Black. "They should be sufficient for today. Tomorrow Dumbledore will come and add his own spells."

"No matter how many spells you cast, you can´t hold me," Harry said defiantly.

"This is not about keeping you in," Black said meaningfully.

Harry swallowed hard. Then what was it about?

-x-

Despite the meagre ingredients, Kreacher managed to fill the kitchen with mouth-watering fumes. The little elf chopped and stired, boiled and cooked, all at the same time.

"This smells delicious, Kreacher," Harry said more merrily than he felt. The elf abandoned his task for long enough to bow to Harry deep enough for his nose to touch the floor, but returned to his pots and pans at a menacing glare from his master.

Little later the servant put bowls of steaming stew in front of the two wizards. Black made a face, but Harry found the meal more than acceptable.

"You are a good cook, Kreacher," he praised. Kreacher bowed again, turning his back on Black in the process. Harry smiled. Whatever he was going to ask from Kreacher, he´d get it.

-x-

The two wizards ate in complete silence. Harry had nothing to say to his kidnapper and Black seemingly had had enough of rebellious teenagers for one day. Upon finishing his meal, Harry got up and went to his room at once, without so much as a word of good night.

Kreacher had cleaned the room and provided fresh sheets while the wizards had dinner. They looked a bit girly, with a flowery pattern and laces, but they were easily the softest bed sheets Harry had ever felt, even softer than the silk at home.

The thought of his room at Malfoy Manor – easily big enough to take in a whole floor of this house although it was one of the smaller bedrooms – caused a pang of panic in Harry´s chest. He had to find a way to return to his family.

"Two hours in the house and he gave you his mistress´s sheets. You truely must be a Slytherin," said Phineas Nigellus from his frame.

"Of course I am a true Slytherin," Harry replied harshly. "What else is there worth being!"

"Well spoken, little snake," grinned Nigellus.

Harry smirked and slid in between the sheets. If he was to be a prisoner here, at least it wouldn´t by a physical hardship.

-x-

When Harry came down to breakfast – it took almost until noon for his hunger to chase him out of the small room – Dumbledore and Uncle Severus sat at the kitchen table with Black. Harry forgot all plans of acting cool. He threw himself on the potions master´s neck with a soft outcry of joy and then sobbed all the stress of the previous hours into the man´s robes.

"What have you done with my godson?" Black asked acidly from the other side of the table.

"I was there for him while his godfather was punished for being moronic enough to fall for the traitor´s plan." Uncle Severus hugged Harry to him and the boy, distraught as he was, could tell that he was smirking at Black.

"Kreacher, bring breakfast for Harry," Black ordered in a bitter tone.

Harry made a show of clinging even closer to Uncle Severus. Perhaps Black would send him away if he saw that Harry liked the potions master better than him?

"Harry stop strangling Snivellus and eat your breakfast!" Yes, Black definitely was annoyed. Good. The boy disentangled himself from his potions teacher´s embrace putting on a show of reluctance.

"Thank you, I needed that," he said softly before he turned to face the table (and Black).

Kreacher must have been shopping. The tray he had put in front of Harry held a full breakfast of beans, bacon, eggs and sausages, but also a variety of fresh fruit and cakes.

"Thank you, Kreacher." Harry beamed, but let his face fall when he looked back at Black.

"Hey, you little nuisance! Why was all that I got porridge?"

Kreacher bowed. "Mistress gave orders to Kreacher which didn´t become void when she died." The elf sniffed at the mention of his dead mistress and Harry hurried to give him his napkin as a handkerchief.

"Master Harry is too kind!" wailed Kreacher.

"What exactly are those orders?" Black demanded through gritted teeth.

Kreacher bowed low and then said in a voice slightly higher pitched than his usual "Kreacher, if I have to leave this world before finding a way to disinherit the freak I sullied the bloodline with, make sure you don´t increase my crime by ever mentioning him in the same sentence with the noble house you and your ancestors have been serving for so many glorious years. And if he moves his sorry butt into my house, make sure he doesn´t enjoy his stay. May his water be cold and his meals be dissatisfying." Kreacher´s voice returned to normal. "Mistress sealed the orders with a spell." He smiled beatifically.

"Bloody hell! I couldn´t spell the shower warm in the morning!" Black looked at Dumbledore expectantly. Harry shoveled some eggs into his mouth and closed his eyes in bliss. When he opened them again he smirked at Black.

"If Lady Walpurga made her orders a legacy, there´s nothing to be done." Dumbledore looked genuinely sorry.

"Kreacher! Bring me a plate!" bellowed Black. He stretched his arm to get some bacon and beans from Harry´s tray, but the boy pulled it out of reach.

"You´re not going to eat my breakfast, are you?" he asked with a glare.

"You can´t be planning to eat all that."

"Why not?"

"It´s enough for three!"

"I´m a growing boy," snapped Harry, "and I had a very upsetting day yesterday."

Uncle Severus watched the exchange, amused. He raised an eyebrow at Black. "Stealing food from children, Black?" he sneered.

An instant later, the two wizards stood at each other´s wand tip.

-x-

"I will not be insulted in my own house, Snivellus," growled Black.

Uncle Severus sneered back at the man. "Can´t stand the truth, can you?"

Black threw himself forward and pushed into Uncle Severus with his shoulder. Both wands clattered to the floor. The potions master stood his ground and pushed back. Black was some inches taller, but Uncle Severus hadn´t spent the last eleven years in prison. His body was well nourished and trained.

"Severus! Sirius!" boomed the headmaster, but he was ignored. Uncle Severus shoved at Black with his chest and the other man stumbled several steps back. With an enraged shout Black threw himself at the Slytherin again, but Uncle Severus stepped aside like a torero and Black collided with the potions master´s chair.

Chair and wizard clattered to the ground.

"Enough!" barked the headmaster. "Severus, the other side of the table! Now!"

Uncle Severus obeyed and moved around the large kitchen table (easily big enough to seat twenty people) to sit beside Harry. On his way he picked up his wand and Black´s. He gave his opponent´s to Dumbledore, smirking at Black, who was scrambling to his feet, cursing under his breath.

Harry smiled at the potions master. "Fruit?" he asked with a pointed look at Black who sat beside the headmaster, panting with fury.

"It would be appreciated," said Uncle Severus, "if you don´t mind sharing."

Harry made a dismissive gesture. "Nah, it´s too much for one anyway." The boy pushed the plate of fruit towards the potions master. "The beans are great. Kreacher is an amazing cook." He held out his fork offeringly.

Uncle Severus grinned and took the fork to try the beans, he also sampled the bacon and sausages. "You´re right. The elf is a great cook." Harry watched Kreacher from the corner of his eye. The little elf squared his shoulder proudly and when he continued cleaning the pans, he did so with new vigour. The best thing of all was, of course, that Black looked murderous.

"Harry," Dumbledore pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly. "I know you must have a lot of questions. So much happened yesterday and I didn´t explain properly."

Harry thought that the old wizard hadn´t explained anything, but refrained from pointing it out. Instead he called Shamira and fed her some bacon. The snake hissed her displeasure with the cooked food.

"Kreacher, do you have some uncooked meat left?" Harry asked the elf, ignoring the headmaster.

"Harry." Dumbledore sounded insistant.

"Shamira is hungry," Harry pointed out. "If what you have to say could wait the whole night, it can wait five minutes more." The headmaster had allowed him to be taken from his family. Harry was certainly going to fight him as much as Black. Every single step of the way.

Kreacher brought a small plate which he handed over to Harry with a bow. "Master Reggie had a snake," he said proudly. "Kreacher caught mice for it. Does Master Harry want mice for his snake?"

"That would be wonderful," Harry said graciously. He told Shamira what the elf had said and the snake bowed to the small creature.

"He´s a parselmouth!" cried Black. His face was full of rage and disgust. "How did that happen? What have they done to my godson?"

"I don´t think it´s anything Lucius has done," Dumbledore said soothingly.

"Quick on the uptake, are we, Black?" Uncle Severus sounded amused.

Once Shamira and Harry had finished their breakfast, there was no way to delay what Dumbledore had to say any longer.

"I understand that you must be very angry at me for seperating you from young Draco and his parents so abruptly." The old headmaster smiled kindly at Harry, but the boy didn´t buy it. There was nothing kind in taking a child from his family. He glared at the man defiantly.

"I wish there had been more time for you and Sirius to get to know each other before moving you to his house, but it was an emergency," continued the white-bearded wizard. "I´m still not entirely sure what happened yesterday, but if my suspicion is right, what we did was the only possible course of action."

Harry snorted.

"Harry," the headmaster looked at the boy over his half-moon spectacles sternly, "when you were born, your parents assigned Sirius your godfather. Sirius was your father´s best friend from the moment they entered Hogwarts. James had no doubt that Sirius would raise you to the best of his abilities if he himself couldn´t do it. Just give your parents the credit of wanting your best for one moment." Harry closed his eyes. His parent – the man and woman who had brought him into the world – certainly had no reason to betray him. They had wanted him to stay with Black!

Dumbledore seemed to be satisfied with the change on Harry´s face. "Your life never followed an easy, or even normal path," the old wizard continued. "you were hunted by a very powerful, evil wizard from the day you were born. Your parents and their friends fought him. Others supported him. The wizarding world was at war, and you were born to be one of the key figures in this war."

"But how?" asked Harry. "How can a little baby be considered so important?" All his Slytherin cunning gave him no clue to the answer to that question.

"There was a prophecy," Dumbledore said softly.

Harry swallowed hard. Prophecies were rare and very powerful. Most witches and wizards would give an arm if there was a prophecy saying they had to. "What did it say?" he whispered, more than a bit frightened.

"It said that at the end of July a baby boy would be born, who had the power to vanquish the dark wizard."

"So he tried to kill me while I was small," Harry whispered. He had been wondering. Neither the book nor Father had ever been able to give him a reason why the evil wizard had been after his family.

Dumbledore nodded. "Your parents died defending you and knowing that you would be cared for. By Sirius."

"But Black," Uncle Severus chimed in, "was stupid enough to get himself shipped to Azkaban."

"I went after the man who had betrayed my best friend! It was a honourable thing to do! Not that you´d know about honour, Snivellus!" spat Black.

"It was a stupid thing to do. It left the boy unprotected," Uncle Severus retorted coldly.

"Stop it, you two." The headmaster raised a hand. "You´re both right. It was a honourable thing to do, but you had other duties, Sirius. More important duties." He turned back to Harry. "The next person to have the right to claim you as her child, was your mother´s only living relative. Her sister, Petunia. The Minister for Magic forbade it, per request of Lucius Malfoy."

"What was wrong with my aunt?" asked Harry. Why wouldn´t they let him stay with a blood relative? Family was important! If a child still had kin, why place him with other people?

"She´s a muggle."

Harry remembered. The Malfoy´s had always said he was a half-blood. Why had he never thought of any muggle relatives?

"So Lucius Malfoy kept me from being stranded with muggles. I´m grateful for that."

"There´s nothing wrong with muggles, Harry," said Dumbledore. "Your parents would be ashamed to hear you talk like that. But there´s more."

"What else can there be?" More? Harry wasn´t sure he wanted to hear more.

"Lucius Malfoy was a faithful supporter of Lord Voldemort."

"He can´t be! If he was, why would he make me a part of his family?"

"We think," Dumbledore said carefully, knowing he was threading on thin ice, "that he wanted to hand you over to his master when he returned."

"No!" shouted Harry. "Father wouldn´t do that! He loves me!"

Dumbledore nodded. "We think that´s possible."

"We?"

"Severus kept an eye on you for me." Dumbledore smiled at the potions master. "I wasn´t able to take you from Lucius, but I was able to place somebody near you to protect you."

"You spied on me?" Harry felt hurt and betrayed. Uncle Severus hadn´t come to see him out of love, but because he was ordered to spy on him!

"In the beginning I did," the potions master admitted softly. "But you can´t see a child once a week and not come to love him."

"You don´t even know the meaning of the word! Don´t you talk about loving Harry!" Black cried.

"Be that as it may," interrupted the headmaster, "we think that Lucius fell victim to the same effect. You can´t raise a child, pretend to love him for the public and not come to feel affection for him. But we aren´t sure."

"Why are we discussing this anyway," Harry asked defiantly. "Voldemort is dead. You think that Father loves me. I know that he does. Why can´t I stay with my family? I appreciate that my biological parents assigned you my guardian, but I don´t know you. I want to stay with the Malfoys. There must be a way you can give me leave to stay with them."

"It´s legally possible," said Dumbledore, silencing Black with a raised hand. "but things have changed. I have reason to think that Voldemort returned to life in the Chamber yesterday. If it is true, you are in grave danger, Harry. Sirius is willing to do anything it takes to keep you safe. You have to stay with him."

"But Father would protect me, too!"

"Harry," Uncle Severus looked at the headmaster meaningfully. "Think! If we´re right and Lucius indeed has come to love you, would you want him to choose between your life and his own? Or Draco´s? Do you really think the wizard who killed the Potters would allow the Malfoys to live if they didn´t hand you over?"

Harry´s heart missed a beat and all of a sudden he felt cold. Colder than he had ever felt in his life. "I can´t go back!" he whispered. It would put his family in deadly danger.

"Not for the time being," agreed Uncle Severus. "For the time being we need you to stay with Black and be safe. We´ll try to find out what happened as quickly as possible. We need you to promise that you will not leave Black´s care unless the headmaster himself gives you permission."

"Why not you? Why not Black?"

"Albus Dumbledore is the only wizard the Dark Lord fears. He won´t try to imperius him." Uncle Severus looked deadly serious.

Once the headmaster felt Harry had been told enough, he urged the two other wizards to perform the spell he and Uncle Severus had come for. The house was to be put under Fidelius. Harry felt it was stupid to use a spell that hadn´t worked the first time, but he didn´t say so. Uncle Severus was the Head of Slytherin after all and if he thought it was strategically correct to use the charm again, it was good enough for Harry.

Uncle Severus unfolded a large piece of white cloth on the kitchen floor. He placed four stones – Harry thought he recognized a big ruby and an emerald, the other two stones were dark, nearly black, one of them a bit bluish, the other with tiny white spots. When the stones had been placed, Uncle Severus muttered a series of spells. To clean the spot for a ritual, Harry realised.

When the potions master had finished his task, Sirius Black and Albus Dumbledore knelt on the cloth. They held their right hands as if they were going to take an unbreakable vow, but Harry knew that this was different. There was no need for a ritual spot for an unbreakable vow.

Uncle Severus chanted in rapid Latin and moved his wand in a complicated patern over the two kneeling wizards´ hands. Bands of golden light flowed from his wand tip and surrounded the wizards´ arms, binding them with magic. Then he lifted a small silver dagger and cut Black´s forearm. For a moment Harry thought Uncle Severus was going to kill the man, but it was only a small cut with only a few drops of blood running down the pale skin.

"The head quarters of the Order of the Phoenix are at number 12, Grimmauld Place, in London," said Sirius Black. "I give this secret to you to hold and to protect."

Uncle Severus repeated the cutting on the headmaster´s wrinkled forearm. "I take your secret and burry it in my very soul," replied the old wizard. "There it shall rest until the end of my days. My life shall be its rampart. Only those worthy shall learn."

Uncle Severus chanted a final spell and the golden light disappeared with a last blinding flash.

Harry blinked. What had happened? Dumbledore and Black were kneeling on a white table cloth and Uncle Severus looked as puzzled as Harry felt. The headmaster smiled, smug. "It worked."

"What?" asked Black.

"The head quarters of the Order of the Phoenix are at number 12, Grimmauld Place, in London," the headmaster said earnestly.

"We used Fidelius?" asked Uncle Severus.

"You were the bonder," smiled Dumbledore.

Uncle Severus blinked.

The headmaster and Uncle Severus left shortly later. Uncle Severus reminded Harry to behave reasonably and the headmaster advised him to get to know Black without prejudice. Black glared angrily when Harry hugged Uncle Severus good bye, but Harry couldn´t have cared less. He followed the man reluctantly on a tour through the house. There was a library, which was tiny compared to the Malfoys´, but Harry spotted some interesting tomes on first sight. He doubted though that Sirius Black was going to allow him to read books on the Dark Arts. Therefore the boy acted unimpressed and followed Black to a small yard at the back of the house.

The yard hadn´t been cared for for years. If there had ever been something like a garden, it was no longer visible. Weeds covered most of the ground and the only traces of humans ever having been there were some overgrown remains of a stone path.

"I´m sorry there isn´t more space to play outside," Black said awkwardly.

"What would I play alone anyway," sighed Harry. What would he play without Draco?

"Well, at least that will change soon," Black replied cheerfully.

-x-

Harry could have smacked himself. How could he ever have allowed himself to hope that Black and his fellow Gryffindor – Dumbledore – had found a way to bring Draco to Grimmauld Place. Instead the house was infested with Weasleys!

Dumbledore, it turned out, had founded an order of witches and wizards during the last war, who fought Lord Voldemort. Harry´s biological parents had been among them. Now that Dumbledore thought the dark wizard was back, he had called old members and people he thought might want to join his forces to resume the fight. Prominent among the new members were Arthur and Molly Weasleys, both Gryffindors, and their sons, all of them Gryffindors too.

It was exactly like Father had said. There were more Weasleys than believable. They all wore old second-hand robes, even the parents, and their hair certainly had never seen a professional hairdresser. Speaking of hairdressers, Harry would need one soon. His hair was a bit unruly by nature and Mother had spent a small fortune on taming it at least thrice a year.

It was beyond Harry how a couple could have so many children when it was obvious that they couldn´t even feed one. He could only guess that for some strange reason Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had wanted a daughter. It was irony of fate that the girl of all their children had died in the Chamber of Secrets.

Harry had no idea how he would have coped with the Weasleys had Ginevra survived. As she hadn´t, the four boys – the two oldest brothers were abroad – were subdued and more bearable than they´d normally been. Even the twins, normally too funny for their own good, behaved nearly normal.

Watching the brothers grieve together made Harry wish for Draco´s presence even more. He spent most of his time in his room, talking to Phineas Nigellus (the former headmaster knew lots of anecdotes about Slytherins, past and present) and reading. The boy had used the distraction of the Weasleys and several other order members moving in to nick some of the more obscure books from the library and hide them under his bed. His favourite was Moste Potente Potions. Father had the book in his library, but he wouldn´t let his sons read it so far. The tome held about two dozens very dark brews, poisons, draughts to alter the mind (permanently or temporary, as the brewer chose) and mixtures to change the body (cruel liquids to disfigure the victim and useful juices to hide from, sneak up to or impersonate others).

There were a few occasions every day when Harry couldn´t avoid the Weasleys. The biggest problem was the youngest boy, Ronald, who was in Harry´s year and held Harry and Draco personally responsible for ruining his leg. The two boys glared and growled, pushed and shoved, hadn´t it been for Percival, who seemingly kept an eye on his little brother on Mummy´s order, they´d have brawled.

After a week, Harry suffered a moral defeat. He used a jellyleg jinx on Ronald after the taller boy had pulled his chair out from under Harry sending the Slytherin to the floor in the course. Barely three minutes later a large barn owl – a plump cheap creature, nothing as elegant as Harriet or Dracina – floated into the kitchen with a loud hoot and dropped a letter onto Harry´s plate, right into his spaghetti sauce (Mrs. Weasley had taken over cooking, and she did a poor job; verbatim. What she made them eat wouldn´t have been used as dog food in the Malfoy household.).

Harry opened the letter, wondering who it was from. He didn´t correspond with anybody who used a cheap owl (and cheap parchment).

It was from the ministry, warning him not to do underage magic again or lose his wand. Black took the letter from him, read it out loud (the humiliation of it!) and asked Harry whether he could control himself or he felt more comfortable if he – Black – kept his wand for him.

"I will not lose my wand," Harry spat through gritted teeth. On the other side of the table Ronald Weasley smirked. Harry could tell he blushed. He made a mental note to make Black pay for bringing him shame.

Once Weasley was aware that Harry couldn´t use his wand, he used the advantage of being taller. Harry was quicker, but more often than not Weasley succeeded in knocking Harry to the floor when no adult watched.

The order of the Phoenix met every other night. Most of the time the adults held their assemblies in the kitchen and didn´t allow the boys to participate. The fury about being excluded was the only thing Harry had in common with the Weasleys, not that it changed anything. All Harry could tell was that the order members waited for confirmation that their enemy was indeed back and that they tried to figure out what little Ginevra Weasley might have told him before she died.

It seemed that the dark wizard had used an old diary to return to life. The only setback was that the diary contained his 16 year old self, so if they were lucky, the order had a huge advantage in knowledge. But nobody knew for how long Ginevra had had the diary and whether the spirit of Lord Voldemort had conversed with her.

The most powerful members of the order – Dumbledore, Uncle Severus, Black and a shabby clad man called Remus Lupin – scanned Ginevra Weasley´s belongings for traces of magic that might give away what had been going on, but to no avail so far.

After most meetings the members of the order shared dinner, though it was beyond Harry why anybody who didn´t need to would expose themselves to Molly Weasley´s inferiour cooking. It was during one of those meals that Uncle Severus suddenly clutched his left arm to his chest.

"I have to go!" he panted.

"Go, Severus, and be safe!" whispered Dumbledore.

Most order members looked as puzzled as Harry felt, but some, among them Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Kingsley Shacklebolt, looked livid. Dumbledore himself and his old friend Alastor Moody looked worried.

"So it is confirmed," sighed Dumbledore. "He´s back."

Harry wanted to throttle the old man. How did he know? Why was he so secretive?

"So it is confirmed," drawled Sirius Black. "Snivellus is a deatheater."

Most of the order members gasped.


	8. Chapter 8

Black rose from his chair and started to pace the kitchen. "I can´t believe you, Albus! You allowed my godson to be raised by a deatheater and used another one as his security net! They could have tortured him, killed him! Merlin knows the brain wash the boy underwent! No wonder he´s an arrogant git!"

"Sirius!" Mr. Lupin cried indignantly. "You´re talking about James´s son!"

"I´m talking about the little whippersnapper who´d call himself Malfoy if only he could come up with a legal reason! James would deny having anything to do with the little brat if he were here!"

"Sirius Black!" Molly Weasley raged. "This is a cruel thing to say to a child about his father! Take it back! Now!"

The rest of the order followed the exchange with interest, Ronald Weasley with glee.

Harry wished the floor would open and swallow him. Black had managed to humiliate him in front of the whole order again.

"James Potter is a dead man," he shouted defiantly. "I don´t remember him. My Father is Lucius Malfoy!"

"There!" cried Black. "Why don´t we send him back? He could worship their Dark Lord with the rest of the lot! Oh! I forgot! He can´t, because that monster would kill him on first sight! You know what? I understand him!"

"Sirius, what has become of bonding with the boy?" asked Mr. Lupin.

"I tried! I honestly tried, but he won´t even talk to me! Arrogant little snot!"

Harry couldn´t take any more. "Next time I see Father I will point out to him he forgot to teach me how to converse with a criminal!" He stormed out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

"Come back and apologize, you little...!" he heard Black cry behind him, but of course Harry ignored him.

Once in his room he paced in front of the small bed. It was ridiculous, two paces to the right, two paces to the left, but Harry felt the need to move.

"What upset you, little snake?" asked Phineas from his portrait.

Harry collapsed on the bed and covered his eyes with his forearm. "I´m stranded with people who hate me. They worship the ground my biological father walked on and resent me not being like him. I want my family!"

"You said your presence would put them in danger," Phineas pointed out.

"I know I have to stay, but it is so hard!"

The former headmaster hummed softly in understanding. "Why don´t you read for a bit? No use brooding over what you can´t change."

Harry scrambled up from his lying position. Phineas was right. He had to do something to distract himself.

-x-

Reading was not good enough. Harry put the book back to its hiding place under the bed and rummaged in his school trunk. Homework! That was it! He had to do something that required him to concentrate properly. It would make him forget Black and the Weasleys for a little while.

The boy decided to start with his Charms assignment. Professor Flitwick had assigned them a lenghty essay on mood changing charms. Harry rummaged for parchment and a quill and was surprised to find one eagle feather quill practically bouncing in his bookbag.

With a jolt of excitement Harry realised it was the quill he and Draco had used to cheat with homework. Was the spell strong enough to work over a long distance? Was Draco trying to contact him?

Harry unrolled some fresh parchment and set the quill on it. Never had he felt so happy as when the elegant feather danced over the parchment and left a message in Draco´s handwriting.

Hello! Are you there? I can´t write for long! Please be there! the quill wrote.

Draco? Harry wrote back.

Who else, stupid? Harry could imagine the blond´s smirk as he wrote this.

How are you doing? I´m caught here with Black and his friends!

Stop! Don´t tell me!

I won´t. Harry was not going to put Draco in danger. He must have a reason not to want to know the details.

I´m barely more than a prisoner here. I can´t even do magic. I got a warning from the ministry. Do you have any idea how they found out?

I guess they suspected Father of letting us do magic. They know you were removed from his household and probably surveilled you extra carefully. I wouldn´t put it past them to give you a warning on mere suspicion. Can they prove you did magic?

Harry thought about it. Several underage wizards had been present, but probably none of the Weasley boys had ever done magic at home. Gryffindors normally played by the rules. That made them so easy to get the upper hand of.

Now that you say it they probably just suspected me and Black affirmed it by not going against the warning. I have a moron for a godfather! How are Father and Mother?

It took Draco a while to answer that question. Probably he needed time to think what was safe to put in writing. Not so good. Father´s former associate turned up at the door and Father has been extremely worried and busy lately. Can you believe it? That associate is 16 at the most! I asked Father whether the guy had been a baby last they worked, but Father wouldn´t answer. Mother misses you dearly. They both told me to tell you they love you.

Tell them I miss them!

I will! I have to stop now. I heard the door. It seems Father and that guy are back. I don´t dare write while he´s here. He´s creepy!

Harry stared at the parchment waiting for Draco to write more, but he didn´t. The boy wasn´t sure whether to be happy or scared. He had found a way to communicate with Draco, but it seemed Lord Voldemort had taken up residence at Malfoy Manor. Harry felt uncomfortable knowing that his family was so close to the evil wizard. Had he found out yet that Father had taken Harry in?

The thought of Father being hurt scared Harry. And Draco! Harry was so worried! He couldn´t find the strenght to write about mood changing charms. But he definitely could do with one himself.

-x-

In the end having talked to Draco outweighed the fear and for the first time in weeks Harry fell asleep happy. He couldn´t find the strenght to destroy the parchment Draco had written on although he was aware that it would be the Slytherin way of action. So he tucked it under his pillow and fell asleep with a smile.

When he woke, Harry was determined not to give Black the satisfaction of belittling him any further and stayed in his room despite Mrs. Weasleys calls to breakfast. It was past lunch time – nobody had cared to call him for lunch after he had missed breakfast – when there was a soft knock at the door.

Harry didn´t respond, hoping the person outside would go away if he stayed quiet. Of course, he should have guessed that no Gryffindor would understand a subtle hint like continued silence. The door opened without invitation and Mr. Lupin walked in. The man carried a small tray, which held a plate with buttered bread and a glass of pumpkin juice. The fitting meal for a prisoner.

Mr. Lupin set the tray on Harry´s desk and sat on the chair, uninvited.

"You don´t gain anything by starving yourself," the wizard started the conversation Harry was determined not to participate in. Mr. Lupin smiled kindly. Harry was startled by how young the man looked when he smiled. He had always thought of him being older than Black, somewhere between Mr. Weasley and Mr. Moody in age, but now the looked younger than those two.

"How old are you?" Harry heard himself ask before he remembered he wanted to stay silent.

Mr. Lupin chuckled at the question. "33. I was at Hogwarts with your parents."

Harry hung his head. Another person who worshipped his biological parents. A person who expected him to do the same although he didn´t remember them.

"This is not easy for Sirius," said Mr. Lupin, "and even less so for you."

Harry looked up and met the man´s eyes.

"James was Sirius´s best friend. They were closer than any of them was to me or," he hesitated, "Peter." For a moment, Mr. Lupin looked incredibly sad. "You, Harry, look so very much like James. Has anybody ever told you?" He pulled a small frame from the pocket of his shabby jacket and handed it to Harry. "You are James´s spitting image, but for the eyes."

Harry took the picture frame hesitantly. A man and a woman were in it. The man looked like Harry was certainly going to look in a few years. He had the same black hair in need of a decent haircut, the same nose, the same mouth. The only difference was that the man had warm hazel eyes, not Harry´s green ones. The woman in the picture had Harry´s eyes. They went well with her wavy red hair and her light – nearly pale – skin. The woman in the picture held a small brown teddy bear. She and the man beamed at the photographer, then looked down at the bear and turned to each other to share a loving kiss.

"It was taken the day they learned Lily was expecting," said Mr. Lupin. "We celebrated all night, and to be honest, James, Sirius, Peter and I were quite drunk once we were done welcoming you. Lily wouldn´t touch a drop. She was so protective of you from the first moment on."

Harry swallowed hard. He didn´t remember these people, but it was more difficult not to care now that he had seen their picture and heard about them. He extended his hand holding the picture.

"No, Harry, keep it." Mr. Lupin smiled weakly. "I have them in my heart. I understand that you don´t remember them and that you filled their spot in your heart with people who were there for you. But they don´t deserve to be entirely forgotten."

"Thank you," Harry returned the smile shyly. Nobody had ever spoken about his biological parents to him like that. Like they were people, not heroes.

Mr. Lupin left without another word. Harry put the small picture on his bedside table and then sat at his desk to eat the meagre meal the man had brought. He looked over at the happy man and woman while he chewed his bread. In midchew, Harry jumped up and removed the picture to stuff it into his trunk. It was just wrong, having a framed picture of strange people on his bedside table while he didn´t have one of Mother and Father.

-x-

Harry returned to the kitchen the next morning. Nobody mentioned his absence for a day. After breakfast, Harry nicked the society part of the Daily Prophet. He leaved through it back in the safety of his room.

There! Mother and Father smiled from the newspaper. Harry cut the picture out and spent most of the day making a frame for it. It was difficult without his wand, but by dinner time he had a makeshift picture frame standing on his bedside table. Harry viewed his work happily. Content with the result, he retrieved the picture Mr. Lupin had given him from the trunk and set it beside Mother and Father.

The Potters had a more beautiful frame, which felt a bit wrong, but Harry promised the Malfoys silently to improve theirs once he was able to use his wand. He pushed the Potters a bit back to make up for their advantage in framing.

-x-

Uncle Severus showed up during dinner. He looked paler than Harry remembered seeing him and only then the boy remembered Black calling the potions master a deatheater. Had Uncle Severus been to see Lord Voldemort? Had he seen Father?

Mrs. Weasley placed a plate in front of Uncle Severus and the man nibbled at some of the food. Harry watched him, worried. He didn´t think the potions master´s lack of appetite had to do with Mrs. Weasley´s poor cooking abilities (potatoes for the third time within a week and it was only Wednesday!).

After the meal, the children were sent to the library. Normally Harry would have hidden away in his room, but he wanted to ask Uncle Severus about Father, so he followed the Weasley boys to the library.

Percival sat in an armchair with a book on the History of Magical Law. The twins lay on the rug with a game of exploding snap and Ronald sat on the sofa. He stretched his bad leg and sighed. Harry walked to the book shelf and chose a tome that would not give the other boys reason to pick on him. Hogwarts a History seemed harmless enough.

When he returned to the group, Harry realised that he had to either sit on the rug with the twins or share the sofa with Ronald. Of course, Malfoys never sat on the carpet (unless with other Malfoys), so there wasn´t really a choice.

"Not so high and mighty, are we?" Ronald said maliciously when Harry sat. "How does it feel to realise that you were raised by the enemy? Deatheaters, all of them. They may even have helped to kill your family."

"My Mother and Father haven´t killed anybody."

Ronald laughed mirthlessly. "Your father was a deatheater the first time and he will be one the second time. That monster killed my sister, but your father," he spat the word as if it was a curse, "will worship him for it. And Snape!" Ronald smirked. "He´s You Know Who´s lapdog just like your father! They probably only took you in to give you to him when he returns."

"They didn´t!" cried Harry. His family loved him.

"They did. You will see." That said, Ronald got up and limped to the book shelf. He returned with a huge tome on hippogryffs behind which he hid without so much as looking at Harry.

-x-

Uncle Severus came to the library late that night. The Weasley boys had long retired and even Harry had been considering giving up. The boy could barely keep his eyes open.

"Harry," Uncle Severus sat on the spot Ronald had vacated half an hour earlier.

"Is it true?" Harry asked, desperate to hear the potions master deny it, "Are you and Father deatheaters?"

Uncle Severus hesitated. "You deserve the truth," he said after a short pause. "Please, hear me out. I am a deatheater and so is your Father. I joined when I was very young and I soon realised my mistake. I worked as a spy for the headmaster since before the Potters died. You know that I worked to protect you all those years."

Harry bit his lip. Was Uncle Severus telling the truth? Or was he just saying this to gain Harry´s trust and be able to bring him to his Dark Lord at the first occasion? True, the potions master had always been kind and Harry loved him dearly, but had it all been a clever plan to fool Harry and get him killed? Harry was not fooled by the fact that the man had spent years keeping up appearances. Slytherins were sly and cunning and they bade their time if they had to. Years were nothing to a Slytherin on a mission as long as the mission promised wealth, power and glory.

"And Father?"

"As we told you earlier. He was a deatheater and he still is, but we think he loves you. His plan backfired on him. I saw him when I was called. He´s worried. The Dark Lord praised him in front of his deatheaters for the original plan to raise you and hand you over, but he´s not pleased about the turn events took. I don´t have proof, but I think the Dark Lord suspects Lucius´s new loyalties and practically made Draco his hostage for Lucius´s full-hearted service."

Harry gasped. The Dark Lord was a threat to his family! He had to help fighting him!

"What did you find out when you were called?"

Uncle Severus sighed. "The headmaster won´t be pleased if I tell you. You´re too young."

"I wouldn´t chose to join a war at this age," Harry admitted. "But did I ever have a choice?"

"No," admitted Uncle Severus. "So be it." He closed his eyes. "I found out the names of two dozens of deatheaters. Nobody new, of course, so shortly after his resurrection, but we were not up to date with deaths and who´s still in Azkaban and who not. Two or three reacted badly to finding their Lord a 16 year old boy. They are dead."

"How did he even know about his own organisation? Does he have his adult mind in that 16 year old body?"

Uncle Severus shook his head. "His mind is as young as his body. He made Ginevra Weasley check out a book on the first war from the Hogwarts library. Nobody thought to check when they examined her belongings. He escaped from the castle in the racket after the new writing was discovered. He wore an old school uniform, he probably used the book to look even more like a student. His colours were Slytherin. Nobody found it strange to see a Slytherin go downstairs although everybody else went up to see what had happened. It took him barely a month to read the book and investigate further. He turned up at Malfoy Manor only a day after his resurrection. You know what that means."

Harry nodded. It was difficult to speak, his tongue felt like lead. "He would have killed me if Dumbledore hadn´t acted so fast."

Uncle Severus nodded. "By using Black to hide you, the headmaster saved the Malfoys´ lives. Black was the only valid excuse for not handing you over to him immediately. Harry, this situation is very complicated. You have to be very careful and patient. It may take years to sort this out."

"I will be patient." Years were nothing to a Slytherin with the proper reward.

-x-

Harry´s thirteenth birthday was sad without his family. Black arranged a small birthday party, but as Uncle Severus wasn´t there (he was now called almost on a daily basis), Harry couldn´t have cared less.

Nobody really wanted to be there. People were being polite, but most of them did a poor job at showing a merry face. Harry was given a lot of rubbish (Mrs. Weasley had actually knitted him a jumper! The most scratchy thing he´d ever been forced to touch. Dobby wouldn´t even use it as a cleaning cloth.) and some sweets (the cheap sort) and no proper present at all.

The boy left the party as soon as it wouldn´t be considered more rude than necessary. He obediently thanked the guests for the presents, cut the cake (A sticky chocolate thing, probably made by Mrs. Weasley. Didn´t those people buy anything?) and then left for his room without taking any of his presents with him.

When he came down for breakfast the next day, the rubbish was gone. Probably thanks to Kreacher, who was the only living being with a sense of style in the house.

-x-

Harry´s only rays of hope were stolen conversations on pieces of parchment with Draco. The blond wrote whenever the evil wizard left the house, which wasn´t very often. Deatheater meetings were now held at the manor. Harry could imagine how much Mother suffered to have her ballroom turned into a torture chamber.

Draco mentioned the deatheaters bringing mudbloods and muggles to the house and that he heard screams. The blond didn´t sound so enthusiastic about blood purity any longer.

Harry tried to imagine what it must be like to be upstairs in his room and listen to the screams of those who had been captured.

The Order members sometimes mentioned deaths, but they always fell quiet when they realised one of the children was listening.

-x-

An absolutely miserable August gave way to what was going an even more miserable September. Harry had been looking forward to returning to Hogwarts as Draco was going to be there, but his hopes were scattered in the evening of August, 31st.

"Harry," Dumbledore said in greeting as he entered Harry´s small room. He watched the boy pack his trunk silently for a while. "Let me assist you," the old man finally broke the silence. He pointed his wand at Harry´s trunk and with dread the boy had to watch his Slytherin crest change to a Gryffindor one.

"What are you doing?" cried Harry.

"We had to make some changes," the headmaster said matter of factly. "According to my sources, there´s a total of 21 children of loyal deatheaters in Slytherin house. You´d be in grave danger there. Therefore I used my privilege of headmaster to move you to Gryffindor."

"What?" Harry´s voice went up as high it would go.

"We can protect you in Gryffindor. There are no know deatheater children and your new housemates are brave. They will help keeping you safe."

"You can´t be serious!" cried Harry. "I like being a Slytherin! All my friends are there. Draco is there!"

"You have friends in Gryffindor, too, Harry. Just think of the Weasleys."

Harry snorted.

If the boy had thought that he had heard the worst, he was mistaken. At dinner, Dumbledore announced to the rest of the Order that they couldn´t come and go whenever they liked in the future. Sirius Black, master of the house, would not be at home.

"Sirius agreed to teach Care of Magical Creatures in order to be near young Harry and protect him." Dumbledore beamed. The Weasley boys cheered. The abominable twins had found a kindred spirit in Black. The headmaster waited for the applause to calm down before he continued. "And Remus Lupin will teach Defense Against the Dark Arts!" There were more cheers, but Harry felt like suffocating.

-x-

The ride on the Hogwarts Express alone didn´t bode well for the school year. Black and Lupin joined the students on the train and insisted Harry sat with them. The boy tried to sneak away to see Draco, pretending he needed the loo, and Black actually got up from his seat and went with him! All Harry could do was really go to the washroom. He saw Draco in passing. The blond looked pale, but at least he shared a compartment with Gregory, Vincent and Pansy! They were playing Exploding Snap. Not that Harry liked the game, but he would have given an arm for being able to join them.

-x-

Harry had to sit with the Gryffindors at the feast, and to his utter humiliation, Black ushered him to his chair personally! The Gryffindors smirked at their new house mate and the Hufflepuffs at the next table chuckled at the sight. From the other side of the hall Draco smiled, looking sorry for Harry.

"What are you doing here, Potter?" Granger sat beside Harry. "Did they finally catch up and find out that you´re not a pureblood?" She chuckled cruelly. "Well, you´ll find out too soon that we´re not as dense as you take us for. We know that you´re too snobbish and arrogant for Gryffindor."

"Believe me," Harry drawled back, "I´d not be here if I could help it." How he was going to survive in Gryffindor was beyond him. Well, at least he was going to see Draco in lessons. They had chosen the same subjects, Arithmancy, Runes and Care of Magical Creatures. Knowledge a young wizard of breeding needed to further his wealth and the influence of his family.

After the feast Harry followed Ronald Weasley up the stairs to Gryffindor tower. Their Common Room was quite nice, though not as stylish and elegant as Slytherin´s. Harry´s bed was the fourth in the third year boys´ dormitory. There were also Weasley, Longbottom and Thomas. Harry´s trunk stood in front of a bed in the far corner of the room.

Harry drew his wand. There was a spot big enough for his bed in front of the window, so why would he sleep in a dark corner.

"Don´t you dare!" hissed Weasley. "This is Seamus´s place!"

With a sigh the former Slytherin pocketed his wand. It seemed unwise to anger the boys in whose presence he had to sleep.

Things got worse the next morning. Professor McGonagall, the head of Gryffindor, handed out timetables. She smiled kindly at Harry when she handed him his. The boy remembered how offended she had acted when he had been sorted into Slytherin. As far as the transfiguration teacher was concerned, Harry had been returned to his rightful place.

"Madam!" Harry called after her after a quick glance at the timetable in his hand.

"Yes, Potter?" the witch returned to Harry´s seat.

"There´s something wrong with my schedule. These are not the subjects I chose!"

"I know, Potter. But seeing the circumstances, Professor Dumbledore allowed your guardian to change your choice after the deadline."

"What? I don´t want to change my subjects!"

"This is for your guardian to decide," the witch clarified.

"But he signed me up for Divination and Muggle Studies! Care of Magical Creatures is the only decent subject left!" He brandished the timetable angrily.

"Mr. Potter," McGonagall whispered urgently after stepping closer so they wouldn´t be overheard. "Divination and Muggle Studies are the only subjects with no Slytherins in them and Care of Magical Creatures is tought by Professor Black himself. You must realise that everything is done for your protection!"

No Slytherins? Harry looked dumbfounded. He stared down at the timetable and his heart sank. There was not a single Slytherin and Gryffindor lesson the whole week! He was going to see Draco only twice a week, in Care of Magical Creatures!

-x-

The first lesson of the year was Transfiguration with the Ravenclaws. McGonagall ordered them to team up in pairs. The Ravenclaw students found their partners within their own house instantly and Harry was left to team up with a Gryffindor. Longbottom teamed up with Thomas and Weasley practically jumped at Brown in order not to be left to work with Harry. As a result Granger remained without a partner. She glared at Weasley and Brown angrily. Both shrugged at her and the girl sat with Harry grudgingly.

"Don´t you dare spoil this assignment! I intend to get top marks," the mudblood hissed at Harry angrily. The boy didn´t deign her with an answer.

"Today we´ll do some repetition from last year. You weren´t allowed to use your wands all summer, so better get yourselves reacquainted with it. Each pair receives a hazel nut to work with." At a swish of her wand a handful of nuts whooshed to the students´ tables. "On the blackboard you find a list of transfigurations I want you to perform. You will work on your nut in turn. So Mr. Weasley, you will transfigure the nut into a goblet, Miss Brown, you will turn the goblet into a stocking and so on. Understood?"

The class nodded.

"You have one hour to practice. We´ll use the last thirty minutes for a little contest. The pair to show all required transfigurations fastest will earn a reward. Start practicing!"

Harry pointed his wand at the nut and turned it into a goblet without waiting for Granger´s sign that she was ready. Just to annoy the girl, he performed the spell wordlessly. Father had started teaching him and Draco wordless magic at Christmas. Harry wasn´t very good at it yet, but certainly good enough to irritate the mudblood. He smirked when Granger´s eyes went big as saucers.

The girl recovered quickly however. She cried her spell and the goblet changed into a stocking, which Harry turned into a rubber duck immediately.

"We may have a chance to win," Granger pointed out after she had turned the rubber duck into a candle.

"Some of the Ravenclaws aren´t bad," Harry pointed out, transfiguring the candle into a quill.

The quill became a wizard´s hat. "We´re faster even though we speak between spells," Granger aimed at the quill Harry had just made and turned it into a key.

The Slytherin – Harry refused to think about himself as a Gryffindor – turned the key into cup like McGonagall had required. "For the reward´s sake, we should work together," he offered. It was the Slytherin thing to do.

Granger agreed and made a chamber pot from the cup.

At the end of the lesson Harry and the mudblood won a small bag of cheap fudge. Hadn´t it been for the fact that he didn´t want Granger to enjoy herself too much, Harry would have refused to eat any of it.

-x-

Still, Harry hadn´t seen the worst of his new life yet. It seemed that his life was on a steep slope and he was sliding down with increasing speed and no option to stop his fall.

In Charms Harry found himself in the middle of a row with no escape. Professor Flitwick, too, had assigned the class to work in pairs, but unlike in Transfiguration, the Gryffindors started a vicious fight over who had to work with "the slimy brat". The tiny professor tried to stop the commotion verbally first and, when that didn´t work, fired some minor spells at the quarrelling Gryffindors. He made Weasley of all people work with Harry and then went to the other side of the classroom to assist his Ravenclaws.

Unnecessary to mention that cooperation with Weasley was an impossible task. The redhead had no control over his magic if Harry was to judge. His cheering charms were too strong and sent the Slytherin into hysterics, much to the amusement of Weasley and the whole Gryffindor lot. Harry retaliated with tickling jinxes. Gryffindor lost a not too small amount of points for "fooling around instead of following clear orders".

On the way out, Weasley and every other Gryffindor boy ran into Harry ´by accident´, leaving the boy rubbing his hurting arm.

After lunch – Draco waved from the Slytherin table, but Harry felt so miserable, it wasn´t enough to cheer him up – Harry dragged his feet up to the North Tower, where the resident seer had her classroom. Although Harry, like most pureblood wizards, believed in prophecies and divination, he also knew that the inner eye was an extremely rare gift. Therefore, he was not going to believe in Sybil Trelawneys abilities lightly.

Five minutes in the classroom made it clear that the woman was a fraud. She worked with all kinds of tricks to build an atmosphere of secret and hiding. The air was heavily perfumed making everybody dizzy, the room wasn´t properly lit and every single item in it – be it furniture, decoration or a simple thing as a teacup – was unnecessarily fuzzy, laced, beflowered or gaudily coloured. There wasn´t a single straight line or something that could be counted as a colour concept. It was like being in a stinking, dense cloud. Harry supposed it was what muggles, mudbloods and people of low magical endowment considered a seer to be like.

To Harry, who had profited from a proper magical education from a young age, the woman herself made the impression of a crazy alcoholic. Maybe, he mused, the perfume was there to cover other scents.

The first thing the woman did, was read out their names and give everybody their little prediction. Weasley was going – according to the seer – to fall down a flight of stairs (not too improbable with his bad leg and annoying the resident Slytherin), Brown was to get bad news. Whatever happened to Longbottom would also concern his grandmother, and Granger was advised to beware of a snake (Shamira giggled in Harry´s sleeve when he translated the prediction in a barely hearable hiss).

"Oh, and Mr. Potter!" Trelawney cried in a hushed voice. "I knew you would enroll for the course late. I saw it in the stars that you were going to learn in this classroom before you entered Hogwarts." She stepped closer and grabbed Harry´s hand without asking for permission. Shamira attacked fast.

Trelawney jumped back with a shriek and cluthed her bleeding hand.

"The Hospital Wing!" Harry threw some of the floo powder from the mantle into the heavily perfumed flames. "Madame Pomfrey! Professor Trelawney needs the antidote to snake venom Professor Snape brought last week!"

The matron came through the floo and hurried over to see where the Divination teacher had been bitten. She administered a drop of the antidote, before she turned back to Harry. "Really, Potter," she scolded angrily, "you should have known better than to bring that snake to your lessons! The headmaster will have his say in this. Come!"

Harry couldn´t find it in himself to dread the meeting with the old wizard. Firstly, he was glad to escape the fraud´s classroom, and secondly, the headmaster wanted to keep him safe. Shamira was – all problems aside – a wonderful protector.

"You will be expelled, Potter!" cried Trelawney after him. "I´m not surprised. That´s why I didn´t prepare a teacup for you although I knew you would come to the lesson."

"Are we in trouble, Master?" Shamira asked, subdued.

"No," said Harry. "you protected me. The headmaster won´t be cross."

-x-

"This will not be discussed!" Dumbledore cut Harry short. "You can´t walk around the school with a dangerous reptile up your sleeve!"

"But she protected me! Don´t you want to ensure my safety?"

"You are perfectly safe at Hogwarts! I trust my teachers implicitely."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Quirrell?" he asked pointedly.

"That was an exception," muttered Dumbledore.

"Well, I´ll feel so much better to know it won´t happen again when I´m killed by an exception," sneered Harry, giving the headmaster his most arrogant Malfoy face.

"Harry," the headmaster said tiredly, "your snake nearly killed Professor Trelawney."

"She thought I was attacked!" Harry smirked. "Besides, I am the child of the prophecy. Professor Trelawney is a third-class witch who specialised in the one branch of magic where she hopes to be able to hide her incompetence." The boy sneered at the old wizard. "You won´t risk my safety for the old fraud, will you?"

"Professor Trelawney is a Hogwarts teacher. She deserves your respect!" Dumbledore scolded.

Harry snorted. "My snake did nothing wrong," he insisted.

Dumbledore stroked his beard, deep in thought. "If she bites one more person, she´ll have to go!"

Harry nodded. "I´ll tell her." He switched to parseltongue and explained to an anxious Shamira what the headmaster had said.

"I will be good," promised the snake. "But anybody who attacks you, will have to answer me!"

"Shamira, let me defend myself first and bite only when you see that I´m losing the fight and my life is in danger."

The snake promised to do as Harry ordered and the boy was allowed to return to his class. By the time he got there, the lesson was nearly over. Trelawney had him drink tea and hand over his cup.

"As there´s not enough time left for you to uncover the future yourself, I will do it for you. You will look up what I used and write an extra foot of homework on it," the witch ordered. "Aaaaargh!" She dropped the cup and jumped back. The cup shattered on the floor.

"Oh, you poor, poor boy!" the seer muttered.

"Professor, what did you see?" asked Brown, eager to hear bad news for Harry.

"Potter, you have the Grim! – I assume it will be that reptile who will cause your early death."

The present Hufflepuffs – Divination was never taken by Ravenclaws or Slytherins – gasped, the Gryffindors smirked.

Harry was glad that the last lesson of the day was to be Potions. At least he was going to see one reasonable human being.

-x-

Uncle Severus didn´t mess around with letting the class decide who was going to work with whom. He waved his wand at the blackboard and a list of teams appeared. Harry smiled at the older wizard. Leave it to the Head of Slytherin to look out for one of his little snakes.

The boy went to sit with Ernie Macmillan, a Hufflepuff pureblood.

"Hello, I´m pleased to work with you," the other boy greeted Harry rather pompously. "You´re said to be good at potions. I hope we´ll do well together."

"I will certainly do what I can to earn us top marks," Harry replied equally earnestly and hinted a bow like Father had taught him to acknowledge the presence of a wizard of proper breeding.

Ernie smiled and started to lay out his tools on their worktable. Harry followed the other boy´s lead. Uncle Severus meanwhile replaced the team lists with a potion recipe.

"Furuncle salve?" Ernie muttered. "Bet on Snape to not give us time to readjust to school. I´ll get the herbs we need. Would you mind getting the rest?"

Harry walked over to the store cupboard silently and picked powdered chalk, cat whiskers, ink of squid and goldfish scales.

Ernie was back with several pouches of dried herbs when the boy returned to their table. The other boy had already put up a cauldron with water and stood by the mortar, waiting for his partner to return.

The boys worked in comfortable silence. Ernie was a diligent worker and appreciated Harry´s suggestions with small smiles. It was not as good as working with Draco would have been, but it definitely was an improvement to working with Granger or Weasley.

"Good work," praised the Hufflepuff when they had handed in a vial of their brew for grading. "It was a pleasure to work with you and I wouldn´t mind repeating it."

"The pleasure would be mine," replied Harry. At least Potions wasn´t going to be a problem.

"Mr. Potter, please stay behind," ordered Uncle Severus when the class filed out of the dungeons classroom.

Harry obeyed gladly. He hoped the wizard would be able to tell him about his family.

"Harry," Uncle Severus said when the last Gryffindor had closed the door behind him. "I heaerd from Albus that you´re not doing too well in Gryffindor. Is it true?"

"How can I do well when I´m surrounded by mudbloods and near-squibs, blood traitors and fools?" Harry asked bitterly. He wanted to return to Slytherin, where he felt at home and where his brother was.

Uncle Severus smiled sadly. "I know it is hard for you, but you have to be wise! Harry, you are a Slytherin! Don´t pout about your enemy´s weaknesses, use them! Make them your friends, let their strengths work for you! Didn't Lucius teach you anything? You're a Malfoy by education, not a moping little boy!"

Harry hung his head. The potions master was right. He should have used his Slytherin cunning! Instead he had spent the summer grieving his situation and not doing anything to improve it. Determined to change that, he squared his shoulders.

"That's better," Uncle Severus said softly. "You know, a Slytherin can act for a Gryffindor, but never the other way round. Use your brains, use what Lucius taught you. – And be careful with that snake of yours. The headmaster will order her killed if she hurts another person."

"I will," Harry promised solemnly. Feeling slightly better, he set out to find his new housemates.


	9. Chapter 9

"What do you want?" Weasley asked bluntly when Harry settled down with his homework near him and Thomas in the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Write my homework?" Harry tried hard to school his face to a friendly expression. It wasn´t easy to hide the contempt he felt for the redhaired boy. "We´d all be faster if we worked together." As if Weasley could help him. Harry had learned most of what was needed for their assignments at Malfoy Manor years ago.

Weasley eyed Harry suspiciously, but Thomas seemed more practical. "We still need to elaborate the effect of cat whiskers in potions. Do you know where to look it up?"

Harry ignored Weasley in favour of the black boy. Of course, Weasley being a pureblood, the redhead would make the more worthy friend, but then being a blood traitor wasn´t so much better than being a filthy half blood. Thomas, Father had found out two years ago, actually had a muggle mother, which made him the worst sort of half-blood there was. Harry had a mudblood mother, but at least the woman had been reasonable enough not to get involved with a muggle. (That his pureblood father had stooped so low to marry a mudblood didn´t speak for him, but then Lily Potter had been a beautiful woman going by the photo Harry had been given by Mr. Lupin, so his slip of reason was understandable.)

Having not much choice, Harry ignored the disgust he felt for the other boy and smiled his most pleasant, non-committal Malfoy smile. "There is a paragraph in this year´s potions text. But you will find ´Your cat – ingredients on paws´ very useful. I got it from the library." Harry rummaged in his book bag and produced the booklet he had gotten earlier. "It has several pages on whiskers. Do you have information on cheering charms? I still need my Charms essay."

Harry didn´t really need help with that, but he wanted Thomas to be able to give something back for the booklet. "Let people think they´re doing something for you in return from time to time. It forms a bond." Father had lectured him and Draco again and again.

"You can copy what I wrote," offered the black boy. He handed Harry a roll of parchment, which Harry accepted with a quick word of thanks.

"You make some interesting points," Harry admitted when he handed the parchment back a little later. "I´m not so sure about what you said on changing the flick at the end of the wand movement though. Would you mind trying it out?"

"That´s a good idea," Thomas replied cheerfully. He and Weasley had just finished their potions essay – in a ridiculously short amount of time. No wonder Uncle Severus never awarded Gryffindor any points for their homework. The boy pointed his wand at Harry.

"Uhm, Dean, I wasn´t talking about using an experimental charm on me." Harry smiled lopsidedly.

"Who else would I try it on?" Thomas was bewildered.

"What about the group of first years over there?" Harry suggested.

Weasley glared at Harry angrily. "This isn´t Slytherin! We don´t go hexing our housemates from behind their back! – You can try your spell on me, Dean." The boy squared his shoulders.

Thomas uttered his spell, using the changed wand movement. It sent Weasley rolling on the floor, giggling and laughing like mad. "Do something!" the redhead chuckled. "I can barely – buahahahaha! – breathe!"

Thomas tried to counter his spell, to no avail. Granger and Patil hurried over to help, but none of the girls knew how to counter a spell they didn´t know.

"Oh, let me!" Harry pushed the girls aside. "Finite incantatem!"

Weasley lay still in an instant.

"You killed him!" Granger accused Harry. She pointed her wand at him.

"I did no such thing!" Harry raised his wand, ready to defend himself.

"Leave him, Mione," Weasley´s voice came from the floor. "I´m fine. I just needed a bit of time to get air." He scrambled to his feet, which was difficult for the boy due to his bad leg. "Thanks, Potter."

Harry made a non-committal noise and returned to his essay.

The next day, Harry hoped, was going to be better. The main reason for that was the fact that they had Care for Magical Creatures in the afternoon and it was a Gryffindor and Slytherin class!

Harry suffered through History of Magic and Charms quietly in the morning. The prospect of seeing Draco – even in the presence of Sirius Black – was so wonderful that not even working with Weasley again could spoil Harry´s mood. The fact that Weasley was less hostile was helping though.

Harry hurried outside early after only a quick lunch. As Care of Magical Creatures required the presence of creatures to care for, the class was held behind the castle, near the Forbidden Forest, whenever the weather allowed it.

Harry sped up when he saw a nearly white veil of hair ahead of him. "Draco!" he cried and his brother turned to wait for him.

"Harry!" the blond squealed with delight. "I can´t start to tell you how much I missed you! I was so waiting for the new school year only to find out that you were removed from Slytherin!"

"It´s been so bad!" cried Harry. "I was cooped up with Gryffindors all summer and they even moved me to that house. All for the sake of my safety!"

Draco´s face darkened. "Come," he said softly. The two boys ran to the edge of the forest and hid behind some bushes. "As much as I hate to admit it, Dumbledore was right to no send you home. He turned up right after he had been reraised and the Weasley girl had told him everything about you. He asked Father to hand you over and," Draco hesitated and Harry could see fear in the blond´s eyes. "he used Cruciatus on Father when you weren´t there. I was so scared! I thought he was going to kill us all! If you had been there, I have no doubt he´d have killed you the instant he saw you."

Harry swallowed hard. "Are Mother and Father all right?"

Draco nodded. "Once he had accepted it was Dumbledore´s fault you weren´t there, he calmed down. But he´s there all the time. He – he even took over your room!"

Harry closed his eyes. His dearest possessions had been there. Toys, books, his broomstick. Draco understood without him saying a word. "He destroyed your stuff." He smiled. "Mother saved some of it, but only little."

"She didn´t!" Harry whispered urgently. "Tell me she didn´t risk her life for my toys!"

"He sent her up to prepare the room for him. She took out as much stuff as she dared. I have it all in our dormitory. It was too risky to keep it at home any longer. All we have to do is find a place where I can give it to you."

"Perhaps Uncle Severus could help?"

"That´s a great idea. Nevertheless, we have to find a place to meet. I refuse to talk to you only twice a week!"

"We could meet at the library," suggested Harry. "They can´t forbid us to learn."

Draco nodded. "That was exactly what I was thinking."

"HARRY POTTER!" Their conversation was interrupted by an angry roar. Harry rolled his eyes and stepped out from behind the bush. Draco followed suite.

Sirius Black was livid. "Which part of ´mortal danger´ don´t you understand? We do everything possible to protect you and the first thing you do is meet with the enemy! You ungreatful little brat! James would be ashamed!"

"Let him!" Harry hissed back defiantly. "As long as Father is proud of me, I don´t care what you say! And Draco is my brother, not my enemy!"

"Oh! And Father" – Black spat the word as if it were a curse – "would be proud if you got yourself killed. I see! I´m certain his master will reward your Brother" – another face of disgust – "well if he does the killing for him!"

"Draco would never hurt me!"

"Oh, and can Draco withstand Imperius?" Black sneered at the boys.

The exchange was interrupted by the first students arriving for the lesson. Black shooed Draco and Harry to different sides of the group, using all of the Gryffindor and Slytherin third years to seperate them. The two boys exchanged glances, but they had to stop even that when Black threw the textbook he was holding at Draco – he missed him so narrowly that Harry was sure the man had aimed for Draco´s face – and took a considerable amount of points from Slytherin for "not paying attention".

The lesson itself was interesting though, despite the fact that Harry would have prefered a different teacher. Black explained the purpose of caring for magical creatures, outlined the basic parameters you had to watch out for when dealing with creatures (he refered to them as the five Ws: What do you need the creature for? What does it eat? Which habitat does it need? Why would you handle the beast yourself and not let others do it? And hoW dangerous was the beast? Most of the class laughed at the last W, but Harry wasn´t willing to give Black the satisfaction.). Then he gave them a summary of which creatures they were going to cover during their first year of the subject, the only interesting creatures on the list being kneazles, which were well known for being able to sense bad intentions around them. Kneazles were often kept by business men. Of course, Father didn´t need one, he had the superior instincts and education of the House of Malfoy to rely on. Neither Draco nor Harry were going to need one either, but it would come in handy to know how to fool one.

When the lesson was over, Black made sure to send Draco back to the castle and keep Harry out on the lawn long enough for Draco to get to his next lesson without further contact. As a result, Harry was late for Divination, which earned him another prediction of his impending, very painful death, this time read from his palm "just to check whether there had been a mistake with the cup due to the necessary haste".

"She has it in for you," Dean said pityingly when the Gryffindors walked down to the Great Hall for dinner. "I don´t want to be in your shoes. She´s pretty scary."

"This definitely wasn´t my day," admitted Harry. "You should have heard Black shout at me before you turned up."

"Did you talk to Malfoy?" asked Weasley. He was panting as keeping up with his housemates was hard for the limping boy. "Was that why Sirius took so many points from him?"

Harry nodded.

"Why did you talk to the git at all?" asked Dean. "You should be glad to be rid of him." He looked at Weasley, insecure. "Ron says you shouldn´t have ended up with the Malfoys to begin with."

Harry had to suppress the urge to hit the boy for badmouthing Draco. "But I did. Draco is my brother. Not being able to talk to him is like having lost him. And knowing he´s so close makes it so much more difficult." He glanced at Weasley, whose expression had hardened at the mention of losing a sibling.

"We were very grateful for what you did back in June," Weasley said after another flight of stairs.

"I did nothing," said Harry. "Your little sister is dead."

"But thanks to you we know where to go to mourn her. Not knowing where she is would have been worse."

Harry was deep in thought all the rest of the way down to the Great Hall. Seeing Draco from afar and not being able to talk to him was hell. But how much worse would it be not to know where he was? Whether he lived or had died? He remembered the first part of the holidays, before he and Draco had exchanged messages with their cheating quills. If Draco had been killed then, Harry wouldn´t have known.

"I´m glad you know where Ginevra is," he said when he sat beside Weasley for dinner.

-x-

Although Harry´s situation in Gryffindor improved little by little – he was far from friendship with any of those socially underprivileged creatures, not that he wanted that, but there was kind of a truce – he couldn´t have cared less about Sirius Black´s warning concerning Draco and Imperius. He KNEW his brother. Who would be able to put Draco under Imperius without Harry realising?

The two boys met in the library every evening from then on. They sat in a quiet corner, sharing a table, doing homework for anybody who wouldn´t look closer.

Harry told Draco about how dreadful his life had become since Ginevra Weasley had died and Sirius Black had demanded the privilege of guardianship. Draco pitied him, especially when he heard that Harry had been made spend the summer with the Weasley pack. That Harry wasn´t able to tell where that had been was a bit disturbing, but couldn´t be helped.

Draco shared more details about his life with the new house guest at Malfoy Manor. Lord Voldemort, it seemed, though younger than when Harry had won over him and cost him his body, was more vicious than ever. Or at least the boys couldn´t imagine anybody being so evil! Ginevra Weasley had gotten hold of a book about the wizard for him and it seemed he had read it front to back before he had turned up at the Malfoys´ treshold.

As soon as he had taken residence at the Manor, he had demanded Lucius to give him any information that was not in the book.

Draco hung his head when he reached that part of the story. "It seems that Father was his righthand man during his last reign. The Lord said several times how lucky he was to have chosen him for further information."

Harry patted Draco´s hand soothingly. "Of course Father would have been his righthand man if he thought that Voldemort was going to be victorious. Gain power for the House, remember?"

"Ever since I learned he worked for him I keep asking myself..." Draco hesitated.

"...whether he took me in for the power which was to be gained in doing so." Harry completed the sentence for him and Draco nodded. "That´s what Black and Dumbledore keep telling me. But whatever Father´s original motives were, he loves me now. That´s all that counts." Harry said stubbornly.

"Yes," Draco beamed at his brother. "He loves you! I have no doubt of that."

"See," Harry smiled back. "Can you blame him for doing what he always does? Take care of the house of Malfoy? Make sure you and mother and I have everything we could ever want? He saw an advantage for you and Mother in fostering me, but he made me a Malfoy, so I gained, too. Why would I hold a grudge for a thing that gave me an advantage? We all gained through what he did." Harry smiled happily.

"It sounds good when you say it."

Harry fished for the pendant he had worn for the past eight years and showed it to Draco.

"March, 5th, 1987; colourful sparks of light while laughing," he read out to the blond. "Does that sound like the first act of magic of an unhappy child?

Draco shook his head. "It doesn´t. We all gained."

"So tell me more about this Lord."


	10. Chapter 10

Harry listened with horror to Draco´s tales. The Dark Lord was cruel and vile, and while Harry could understand that part of it was necessary to gain power – Father had never led the boys to believe that you could use velvet gloves to get hold of wealth and influence – he was utterly disgusted with the disrespect that creatures held for his associates.

The followers he had gathered around him during his first reign were respectable witches and wizards of excellent breeding and education. Of course, not all of them could rule the world, even among the upper class there had to be leaders, people who distinguished themselves from the others by power, knowledge and wealth (Malfoys, ideally), but nevertheless, it was not right to deny them the respect they deserved by their pureblood status.

According to Draco, and Harry doubted his word not for a single moment, the Dark Lord punished his followers with Cruciatus (Father!) and Imperius (Harry shuddered when he thought about Greg´s father going home to beat his wife within an inch of death as a punishment for failing to find out Sirius Black´s whereabouts.) on a regular basis. But not only that, he used it for his amusement, too!

A true leader, Father had tought them, gained his followers´ respect and loyalty. It seemed the Dark Lord had not learned that lesson. He led his deatheaters (what a stupid name!) by fear. Harry found it depressing that a man like Father – who was a natural leader – had to bow to a brute like the Dark Lord. The only good thing in this whole mess was that Draco was safe at Hogwarts.

Another pleasant discovery of September was that Remus Lupin turned out to be a very competent teacher. His lessons were hands-on unless he deemed the subject of the lesson too dangerous.

They encountered a boggart in their first lesson. It was hidden in a wardrobe in the staff room. Most Gryffindors found it exciting to be allowed in there, but Harry was sorry for the teachers who had a free period and weren´t able to spend it peacefully in their room. He felt a bit awkward about inconveniencing them.

Lupin explained how they were to get rid of the boggart and then had them queue up to try the spell out. Harry found that extremely useful. Boggarts never came to well-maintained buildings like Malfoy Manor, so he had known about the Riddiculus spell, but had never tried it out. He made sure he was near the front of the queue. Let someone else make the beginners´ mistakes, but don´t work with a weakened boggart!

Lupin chose Longbottom as a guinea pig. They whispered in front of the wardrobe for a little while before the professor opened it and the boggart made its appearance. It looked like Uncle Severus! Longbottom said his spell and suddenly the boggart wore a witch´s dress and a vulture hat. The class roared with laughter and the professor smirked!

Harry acted without thinking. He was beside Longbottom with two long strides. "How dare you!" he hissed angrily and hit the boy with a hair growing charm. Within moments, Longbottom looked like a bear. Some of the girls shrieked.

First Harry thought it was because of Longbottom´s new appearance, but then he noticed the boggart. Father and Draco´s dead bodies lay on the floor. Father´s face was contorted in pain and blood ran from Draco´s nose. Lupin stared at Harry calculatingly.

Harry glared at the professor angrily. Then he pointed his wand at the boggart and cried his spell. Father and Draco changed into Lupin and Sirius Black and they were rolling on the floor, absorbed in some serious kissing and groping.

Harry laughed and the boggart fled into the wardrobe.

The class was dumbfounded. Everybody looked at professor Lupin for his reaction.

The wizard took a deep breath before he clapped his hands. "Well done, Harry! Not the image I'd have chosen, but I guess I have to take what I was ready to dish out to professor Snape. Five points to Gryffindor!"

After that the lesson proceeded normally.

At dinner, Harry heard rumours that professor Lupin hadn´t punished him because he really was involved with professor Black in such a way. Served them right, for messing with Harry´s life!

-x-

Uncle Severus asked Harry to stay behind after potions, which happened to be the next class after Defence Against the Dark Arts.

"Rumour has it you gave Longbottom fur for ridiculing me," the potions master smiled.

Harry hung his head. Certainly Uncle Severus was going to say it hadn´t been very Slytherin to do that.

"I have to thank you for that," laughed Uncle Severus. "And tell me, did you really – how did Peeves put it so nicely – put Lupin and Black snogging like there was no tomorrow on the floor?"

Harry nodded.

Uncle Severus laughed even harder. "I´d love to see Black´s face when he hears!"

Harry swallowed hard. He hadn´t thought of that. What was his godfather going to say?

"By the way, your brother gave me something for you, but so far I wasn´t able to give it to you without arising suspicion." Uncle Severus opened a drawer of the teacher´s desk and put some tiny things onto the top. He pointed his wand at the items and unshrank them.

Harry beamed. The things Mother had saved for him! His photo album, his Harry book, some of his toys. The boy was a bit disappointed that his broomstick wasn´t among the things, but then a broomstick could be replaced. Although, thinking of it, there was not much chance of this happening very soon once Sirius Black heard about Harry´s boggart. There was also an envelope with Harry´s name in Narcissa´s elegant handwriting.

Harry´s heart missed a beat. What if that vile creature found out she had written to the foster son she was supposed not only not to love, but also to hand over to her Lord?

"Thank you, Uncle Severus!" Harry gathered the things in his book bag and left the classroom.

A house elf informed Harry at dinner that professor Black wished to see him after the meal in his office. Harry glanced up at the head table and could barely supress a shudder. Black was infuriated. Lupin was talking to him in what seemed a soothing manner but at least from afar he didn´t look very successful. Black snapped at his old friend repeatedly.

Weasley followed Harry´s gaze up to the head table. "Trouble in lovers´ paradise," he giggled when Black spat another angry remark at Lupin and the man retreated with a look of hurt on his face. The other Gryffindors joined in, but Harry didn´t feel like laughing.

"He summoned me to his office after dinner," he said with a feeling of doom.

"Aww, we´ll try to revive what is left of you when you come back," promised Thomas. The others agreed, even Granger. It seemed she had enjoyed the laugh Harry had given her and was ready to pay him back for it.

Harry ate three helpings of dessert in order to postpone the meeting. When he reached for a fourth cup of ice-cream it combusted spontaneously. The boy didn´t need to ask who was responsible for that. Nearly shaking with fear, he made his way to his godfather´s office.

Black wasn´t there when Harry reached the office. The boy hadn´t expected him to be. The man had set his ice-cream on fire, and he had to be in the Great Hall in order to do so. Harry didn´t have to wait long though.

Black arrived with his robes billowing around him and Professor Lupin jogging after him.

"Sirius," the Defense teacher pleaded. "It was a joke and I allowed Severus be ridiculed before! He considers him family! I should have known!"

"So it is your fault, not the brat´s, is it?" Black stopped and turned so abruptly that Lupin slammed into him. "It´s your fault that the whole school thinks...!"

"Let them think what they want! The rumours will die down eventually," pleaded the light haired wizard.

"Let them think that I have something abominable going on with you?" Black sneered. "I´m the last of the Blacks! Fate gave me a second chance to my house! I have plans! Plans which involve some goodlooking young witch and a couple of kids, not nasty rumours about me and my last childhood friend!"

Lupin looked hurt, but stood his ground. "Don´t forget you owe this chance to Harry!"

"The brat destroyed my reputation with one swish of his dirty little wand! Here I was ready to sacrifice some years to James´s memory and protect his boy! And what do I get? Gossip and shame! – Ah, here you are! You ungrateful little child!"

Black opened the door to his office and pushed Harry inside not too gently.

"What were you thinking?" he raged at the scared boy. "You exposed myself and Remus to ridicule and gossip! We are two Hogwarts teachers! If you can´t respect us as your parents´ friends, you will at least respect us as your teachers!"

Harry hung his head. What was he to say?

"Are you sorry, Harry?" Lupin asked softly.

Harry nodded. "Yes, I´m sorry."

"Stop putting the words on his tongue!" Black shouted at his friend. "He couldn´t be less sorry! The idea to apologize didn´t even cross this spoiled brat´s mind! Detention, Potter! You will come to my office every evening after dinner! Sit!"

Harry sat on the indicated chair obediently. Black slammed parchment and quill in front of him.

"Write! I must not behave like a swine!"

"How often?"

"Until I say it was enough!" Black glared at the boy angrily.

"Sirius, Dumbledore said you have to tell students what their punishment is." Lupin reminded his friend.

Black looked murderous. "Well, so be it!" he hissed after he had refound his composure. "One million times. You may write as long as you want every evening, but no less than two hours. Your punishment is over when you´ve written it one million times."

Harry gasped. This was going to take months, if not years! How was he supposed to do his homework? How was he going to meet Draco?

"One million?" Lupin asked in disbelief. "Sirius!"

"That´s my last word. Good night, Remus," Black opened the door and Lupin couldn´t but leave.

Harry wrote for four hours that evening. His hand hurt. He still had homework to do.

"How many?" asked Black when the boy got up. He had been grading essays while Harry worked.

"1217," whispered Harry.

"998783 to got then."

Harry collapsed against the corridor wall. This wasn´t going to take months. It was going to take years! He wondered what would happen if he wasn´t finished by the time he graduated.

-x-

It was well past curfew when Harry returned to Gryffindor Tower, but the third years were waiting for him in the Common Room.

"You look dreadful," Weasley pointed out. "Here, take a cauldron cake."

Harry was, indeed, hungry, but he felt bad accepting food from the other boy. For one, he wouldn´t have offered food to Weasley if the roles had been the other way round, and second, the Weasleys were one poor lot. Taking food from a starving man seemed wrong.

"It´s from the kitchens," sighed the redhead when Harry hesitated. "And you know, my mother is quite a good cook."

Harry bit into the cake to escape the necessity to answer.

"What did he say?" asked Brown and Thomas added: "What did he make you do?"

Harry told them about the herculean task he had been assigned.

"But that will take you years! And you need to study and do your homework!" Granger was scandalized. She stomped up to the girls´ dormitory and returned with a stack of library books. "Here! I borrowed those for this week´s homework, but I was going to return them first thing tomorrow morning. Take them. It will save you some time."

Harry blushed at the kindness and thanked the girl. Once he was settled at a table with a jug of pumpkin juice, some more stolen cakes and the books, the others went to bed in order to leave Harry to his work.

With a sigh the boy bent down to his bookbag to get some parchment. He needed an essay for Black the next day, and although he was very tired, he didn´t dare show up without it. When he searched for some new parchment, Mother´s letter slipped into his hand.

Harry smiled and opened it.

"My dearest Harry," the letter said, "next Sunday you will have a visitor. I want you to give him the enclosed."

Now that was a strange message, especially as Harry discovered a sock when he looked at the envelope more closely. When had Mother written the letter? When was the next Sunday she was talking about? He just hoped that he hadn´t missed it with the letter lying in the drawer at Uncle Severus´s office. But then, he hadn´t had a visitor all month, had he?

-x-

Waiting for Sunday gave Harry something to look forward to and made dealing with life at large and Black in particular easier. The boy went to his detentions every evening and by the end of the week he had worked himself to close to 5000 lines.

On Saturday, Harry was to be found in the library all day. He was so behind with his homework that he not even enjoyed Draco´s company much. The blond pitied his brother for Black's revenge and helped him with his homework by gathering the books he needed. He even offered to write his essays with the copy quill in order to take some of the workload off Harry, but Harry pointed out that Black was certainly waiting for him to try to cheat.

"Are you sure? He's a Gryffindor," Draco sounded doubtful.

"But he comes from a Slytherin family. He must have learned something there," Harry sighed.

The night from Saturday to Sunday, Harry barely slept. Who was the mysterious visitor going to be? Was Mother coming to Hogwarts? She could pretend to visit Draco. But then again, never had Harry heard of a student having a visitor!

The boy trotted down to the Great Hall for breakfast with the Gryffindors. He forced down some spoonfuls of porridge, but it tasted like parchment, and a mouthful of tea didn't change it a bit. When Harry left the hall to go to the library – he still hadn't finished half of his homework – he nearly ran into Father.

The blond wizard sneered down at him. "Potter!" he spat before he wrapped his cloak tighter around his frame and stalked up the marble staircase.

Harry thought he felt his heart break. Father had sounded so cold, so distant! He was startled by a gentle touch to his elbow.

"Harry Potter, Sir!" piped Dobby, the house elf, by Harry's side. "Dobby begged Master to allow him to come along! Dobby hoped to see Master Harry!" The small creature looked at Harry with his huge green eyes. "He hopes to show Master Harry the book Mistress Narcissa gave Dobby!" He held up a small book, which was barely more than a leaflet.

Understanding, Harry pulled the elf into the small chamber where usually the first years waited for their sorting.

"Dobby!" he cried. "So you are my visitor!" He rummaged in his pocket and gave Dobby the sock Mother had sent. "This is for you!"

Dobby beamed and howled with grief at the same time. "Dobby is a disgraced elf!" the small creature wailed. "Dobby doesn't deserve clothes. Dobby was always good!"

Harry took the booklet from the elf's hand and skimmed through it while the little creature lamented its fate. There was a small passage, marked in red. Harry read it quickly and drew his wand.

He touched Dobby´s head and the elf fell silent. "I bind thee to the House of Potter! Your body and soul is mine from now on. You will serve me as is fit for an elf. In return I will protect you and deprive you of garments for as long as I see fit."

"Oh, Master Harry!" cried the elf, "Dobby will gladly serve the House of Potter from now on!" He threw himself forward and embraced Harry´s legs. After a short while the elf recovered and stood. He cleared his throat. "The Malfoys are a pack of vile creatures!" He looked around nervously and beamed when nothing happened. "Harry Potter is a lazy git! – Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!" The elf sank to his knees and banged his head on the floor.

"Stop it!" cried Harry.

Dobby obeyed. "Dobby had to test whether the plan had worked." He smiled happily. "Dobby is no longer bound to the House of Malfoy. He is loyal to Harry Potter now."

"I don´t understand." Harry was puzzled.

"Lady Narcissa," the elf hesitated when he felt no urge to punish himself for not using the title Mistress, "sent Dobby to protect Harry Potter. She gave Dobby a message for Harry Potter."

"A message?"

"Yes, Master! The Lady wants Harry Potter to know that she and her husband love him, but they have to act as if they don´t to protect Draco. She asks Harry Potter to have faith in her and she can´t wait to be able to openly show how much she loves him. She came up with the plan to free Dobby and bind him to Harry Potter instead. Harry Potter is considered a Malfoy, so she hoped he can free a Malfoy elf. Dobby is now bound to the House of Potter and Harry Potter alone has power over him."

Harry smiled. Mother had found a way to protect him and show how much they cared for him. Merlin knew which orders she had given to Dobby. There could be more messages, or the elf could carry more of Harry´s things.

Harry knelt in front of the small elf. "Is there more? Did Mother ask you to tell me more? Or did she give you something to forward to me?"

The elf hung his ears. "She considered it, Master, but it was too risky. If the one they call the Dark Lord ever found out he´d kill the family. She only dared send Dobby when the Dark One was gone to Europe."

Harry was a bit disappointed, but then Dobby was more than he had dared hope for so far. "He is in Europe?" The boy hoped that Dobby knew more.

"Nobody knows where he is exactly, but he said he was going to leave the country," confirmed the elf. "Everybody assumes he went to the continent, but nobody knows for sure."

Harry got up. His family was in danger. The fact that Father hadn´t dared speak friendly to him made it even more clear. If he ever wanted his family back, the evil wizard had to die. The only one working to achieve that was Dumbledore. If Harry had to work with despicable Gryffindors to get his family back, he was going to do it.

-x-

Harry hurried up the marble staircase to the headmaster´s office, Dobby in tow. Only when he reached the stone gargoyle guarding the staircase to the office did the boy realise that he didn´t have the password. He´d have to wait for somebody to tell him or the headmaster to come out. Harry sat on a window sill near the entrance and waited. The headmaster was known to turn up here and there in the castle on Sundays, so certainly the man had to leave his office at some point.

Twenty minutes later – Harry considered asking one of the professors for the password – the gargoyle jumped to life and gave the staircase free. Somebody was coming down. Harry slid from the sill and stood beside the gargoyle.

"Potter!" he was greeted by Father´s indifferent voice. "What are you doing here? And what are you doing with my house elf?"

"We are speaking about MY house elf," Harry replied equally coldly. "And now kindly step out of my way. I need to talk to the headmaster."

"Impertinent brat," spat Lucius. He stepped aside to let Harry pass. When the boy slid past him, he squeezed his shoulder for the briefest of moments. Harry reached up to touch Father´s hand equally briefly. It was little, but it had to be enough. What if Voldemort found out? They couldn´t risk it.

Harry stepped on the moving staircase. Sad, he watched Father strutt down the corridor, his blond hair and robes billowing behind him.

"Master Harry is sad," Dobby observed. "Everything will turn out well in the end."

Harry smiled weakly. Dobby had always had a special connection to him. It probably was because the elf had helped when Mother wasn´t able to take care of two toddlers at once. "It will," he said with a confidence he didn´t feel. Was he trying to reassure Dobby or himself?

The headmaster offered the boy a seat when he entered the office and listened to his tale patiently.

"Thank you, Harry," he said kindly when the boy had finished his tale. "This confirms what my sources say. Voldemort left the country, but we have no idea where he went."

Harry was a bit disappointed. The old wizard had known! He, Harry, would have loved to contribute something to the cause. Then he remembered something.

"Sir," he said politely, "I recently acquired a house elf. Dobby." The creature bowed until his nose touched the carpet. "I wanted to ask whether it is allowed for me to keep him in the dormitory."

The headmaster shook his head. "This is not acceptable."

Harry opened his mouth to protest, but the old man stopped him with a raised hand. "We cannot allow students to bring their own servants. But your elf can stay at the kitchens and you can call him whenever you need him. Is this acceptable for you?"

Harry nodded eagerly. As long as Dobby was on the school grounds it was as good as if he was by his side all the time. Elves were able to apparate even through wards to follow their master´s call. He turned to the elf. "Dobby, I want you to work at the Hogwarts kitchens unless I call you to serve me personally. You are allowed to refuse orders from – Sir, who is in charge of the kitchen?" – "Professor McGonagall." – "You are allowed to refuse orders from Professor McGonagall if they contradict my orders and to come and see me whenever you want to. You will under no circumstances punish yourself. You are mine to punish."

The elf bowed again and disappeared with a loud crack.

"That was a very kind thing to do, to forbid him to punish himself," said Dumbledore.

Harry didn´t grace the comment with a reply and set out for the library.

-x-

Dobby´s presence made life at Hogwarts better. The little elf made sure Harry got his favourite desserts every evening. He prepared what Harry needed for his homework when the boy had detention with Sirius Black (the wizard hadn´t softened one bit so far and insisted on his million lines) and prepared small snacks for when his master returned to Gryffindor Tower.

Harry´s relationship to his new housemates (as far as Harry was concerned Slytherin was still his house) improved when Dobby started bringing snacks for Harry´s dorm mates, too.

The best of all was, though, that Dobby carried messages from Harry to Draco and vice versa. Harry ordered the elf to respond to Draco´s call, too, and so the two boys had their own little elf-a-phone. It was much more convenient than the copy quills, thought they still used those during classes.

By Halloween Harry felt more at ease with life than he had since Voldemorts rebirth. Speaking of Voldemort, the boy considered sending Dobby to Malfoy Manor to ask for news, but then he didn´t. First of all, he wasn´t sure Dobby could access the Manor once he no longer belonged to the Malfoy family, and what was even more important, Harry didn´t want to risk his parents´ or Dobby´s safety.

This was why he heard the news from the papers. The morning after Halloween (the feast had been superb) the owls brought more newspapers than usually. Harry knew it meant something important had happened and went to sit with Percy Weasley – the oldest Weasley boy at the school – immediately. He didn´t have to wait long. The Weasleys had, indeed, sent the paper to their oldest son and Harry was able to read with the boy.

Lord Voldemort hadn´t been to the continent, it seemed. No, he had freed a dozen of his followers from Azkaban! Among them Peter Pettigrew and Bellatrix Lestrange, Mother´s sister. Harry shuddered. Mother and Father were in even more danger now! Certainly Bellatrix, her husband and his brother were going to live at the Manor. Father could deny quarters to the others, but not to family.

Harry feared for Lucius and Narcissa with Azkaban escapees in the house. If those criminals weren´t dangerous per se, they were certainly giving the aurors an excuse to come to the Manor. Heaven knew what happened when Father tried to defend his family´s home. (Harry was certain Lucius wouldn´t allow the authorities into the house without a fight.)

"Did you read it?" Draco asked when they met on their way to Care of Magical Creatures. "Aunt Bella escaped."

"You call her aunt? She´s a criminal!"

"Of course I call her aunt!" Draco whispered back urgently. "Do you want me to make a mistake when I go home for Christmas? We must pretend to be glad she´s free!"

That made sense. "Can´t you stay at Hogwarts for Christmas?" Harry didn´t like the idea of Draco in a house full of deatheaters.

"No!" Draco hissed. "She´ll expect Father to call me home to meet her. I have to go!"

"You have..."

"How often did I tell you not to speak with this boy?" Black grabbed Harry by his neck from behind and shook him. The wizard only let go of the boy when an angrily hissing Shamira made her appearance beside his fingers. "Have you still got that snake?"

"Yes," sneered Harry. "And you just proved that I need her." He hissed a soft thank-you to the snake.

"You´re welcome, Master," the snake hissed back. "That was close! I nearly sank my fangs into his hand."

"You must not!" Harry hissed back.

Seven weeks later, Draco returned back home with Shamira wrapped around his forearm. The snake was reluctant to go first, but when she realised how important it was to Harry, she agreed to go and protect Draco for him.

-x-

Harry on the other hand returned to Grimmauld Place with his godfather. He had hoped that the man would let him stay at Hogwarts as they weren´t on speaking terms other than the question how many lines Harry had written so far.

The house was infested with Weasleys again (that Harry got along with Ronald quite well didn´t mean he had to like being surrounded by Weasleys all day). Mrs. Weasley took over the kitchen again, ignoring the fact that now two perfectly trained house elves were available.

Harry spent most of the time in his room, writing his lines. When one of the Weasleys (Ronald kept pestering Harry about playing chess with him) or Dumbledore tried to lure him out of the room, the boy reminded them of his punishment and that he wanted to get done with it "before he was old enough to take a bride".

Between the line-writing, Harry exchanged short messages with Draco via copy-quill, but the blond couldn´t put much in writing but the fact that "the Manor was bursting with guests".

Harry was woken by Ronald Weasley on Christmas Day. "Come out of that room!" cried the redhead. "Mum insists we can´t open our presents before you are there. So move your butt!"

Harry sighed and dressed.

The Christmas tree was in one of the dark parlours. Somebody – if Harry had to guess he´d say Dumbledore – had decorated the room with live fairies, holly and a huge mistletoe. The tree in one corner was loaded with glass baubles, silver garlands and candles.

All the Weasleys, Black, Lupin, Dumbledore and Uncle Severus (the only pleasant surprise so far) were waiting when Harry entered the room. The pile of parcels under the tree was huge. Being the Master of the house, Sirius Black did the honours of handing out the presents. It took nearly half an hour to give each to the right person, and when Black was finished, everybody was sitting in a small pile of gifts.

The Weasley children had only small piles, Harry couldn´t but notice, and the paper their presents were wrapped in looked reused. There were snippets of old spellotape and small holes here or there.

Harry´s pile was the biggest and the exquisite silver wrapping told clearly that, somehow, Mother and Father had managed to send their presents. Harry glanced at Uncle Severus and the wizard gave him a small nod and smile. So the potions master had brought the gifts from Harry´s family.

When everybody had their presents, people started to unwrap their gifts.

Harry got a horrible pullover from Mrs. Weasley (why did that woman give him a present at all?), some sweets from Ronald (Harry was glad he had bought the boy some cheap chocolate), more sweets from Dumbledore, a small photo album featuring his biological parents from Mr. Lupin and a pile of toys and a new broomstick from Father and Mother. Uncle Severus gave him a very advanced potions book.

"Severus, don´t you think you´re putting too much pressure on young Harry," asked Mr. Weasley.

"Not at all, Arthur," smiled the head of Slytherin. "Harry saw the book in my library last summer and was interested. So I got him his own."

"But Severus, this is past NEWT level!" Arthur insisted. Percy came nearer to look at the book.

"Malfoy Manor has one of the biggest libraries in Britain," sneered Harry. "Do you honestly think I spent twelve years there without reading a bit?"

"Wow! You mean to tell me you actually understand this?" Percy looked at Harry with admiration written all over his face.

"I haven´t tried any of the potions so far, but I understand the theory."

Dumbledore smiled. "It seems that growing up with the Malfoys had some advantages I didn´t foresee."

Harry didn´t answer to that and continued opening his parcels. The last one was a small envelope, wrapped in red and gold. It had to be from Sirius Black. Harry opened it with shaking hands. What did his still livid godfather give him?

It turned out to be a voucher for 500.000 lines. Harry thanked the man, while the other present wizards abused Black for being a grudging monster.

"You said you´d forgive everything!" cried Mr. Lupin.

"So! I changed my mind!"

"Well, then see what happens if I change my mind!" Mr. Lupin barked back. He stomped towards the door.

Black was out of his seat in an instant and went after him. "Remus, wait!" He caught the other wizard just before he reached the door.

"Mistletoe!" the Weasley boys cried merrily.

The two wizards blushed.

"It´s tradition!" cried Dumbledore.

"Well, if it´s tradition," sighed Black and rolled his eyes. Black pulled his school friend into a hug and kissed him passionately. Mr. Lupin returned the kiss with equal gusto.

Harry blushed and started reading his potions book. There were things he just didn´t want to know.

Two hours later a grumbling Sirius Black informed Harry that his punishment was over.

"If you ever – ever! – expose myself or Remus to ridicule like that again, I will kill you personally," hissed the man. "you will keep your mouth shut about what you witnessed earlier. One would think they tought you a bit more decorum in a pureblood household."

"They did!" Harry hissed back angrily. "But they also taught me to stand up for friends and family and Lupin had ridiculed my uncle Severus!"

"Snivellus is not your uncle!"

"As far as I´m concerned he´s my only family in this house! And his name is Severus! So much for decorum!"

"You cheeky little rat! I will be treated with respect!"

"You would if you deserved it!" Harry only realised that he was shouting when entered the room and asked them if he could help.

"Remus, hold me back or I´ll throttle that boy!" Black threw his hands in the air in a gesture of helplessness.

"I didn´t ask you to mess up my life, you know!" Harry shouted at the man. "I´d much rather spend Christmas with my family!"

"You know that that´s no option, Harry," Lupin said kindly.

Harry collapsed into an armchair and burried his face in his hands. "I know," he muttered. "But that doesn´t mean I have to like it."

"Of course not," replied Lupin. "But don´t forget this mess is not Sirius´s fault."

Black avoided Harry for the rest of the holidays and the boy was grateful for that. He was trying not to hold a grudge against the man, but it was so hard! Again, Harry spent most of his time in his small bedroom. The only person who could lure him out of his room those days was Uncle Severus, who visited twice more before it was time to return to school. The potions master brought little news from Mother and Father apart from that they were alive.

Once Harry was back at school he could hardly wait to meet Draco. He hurried to the library as soon as he had put his things into his trunk at Gryffindor Tower.

The blond was already there and he was very pale.

"What happened Draco? You look horrible!" Harry whispered urgently as they hid behind some shelves.

"Nothing," Draco whispered back.

"That´s not true," hissed Shamira. She slid from Draco to Harry when her Master held his hand out for her. "One of those men beat him."

"Beat him?" Harry shrieked in parseltongue.

Shamira wrapped herself around Harry´s wrist. "Beat him," she confirmed. "They treated him like a servant all the time and when he didn´t bring that bottle fast enough he was beaten. But I killed that man." She showed her fangs proudly.

"Is it true, Draco? Shamira says she killed a man to protect you!"

Draco nodded and sank to the floor, his back against the shelf. "Aunt Bella´s brother in law. He beat me and Shamira bit him. Thanks Merlin she hit his arm and they didn´t bother to examine him too closely, or they would have killed her and probably me." Tears ran down Draco´s cheeks. "It´s horrible, Harry. The Manor is full of those people. Father has to act friendly, but they´re treating everybody who´s not one of them badly. I´m not one of them and nor is Mother. I´ve seen her work like a house elf."

"I will tell Dumbledore. He will help," promised Harry.

Draco shook his head. "I´m sure Dumbledore knows. Uncle Severus is there quite often after all."


	11. Chapter 11

Harry was sick with worry. Father had to play host for a bunch of madmen (the Daily Prophet had their madness on the front page on a daily basis at that point) and Mother was like a servant in her own house. Part of Harry was proud that Mother had never taken the mark, unlike her sister.

After his punishment had been lifted, Harry had more time for homework, Draco and the Gryffindors, who were trying to make him part of their group once Harry had stopped treating them like the riffraff he thought they were. Harry stayed friendly, as it was the Slytherin thing to do, without getting too friendly.

In February, Professor McGonagall approached the boy with an outrageous request.

"Potter," she said and placed a small plate of biscuits in front of the boy she had summoned to her office. "you may, or you may not, have heard rumours that Anthony Noble will move to his uncle´s in Sweden after his parents were killed last week."

Harry nodded. It was the sole topic in Gryffindor.

"Anthony has been playing seeker for Gryffindor for the last two years. So his change of residence leaves us with a problem."

Harry´s eyes went as big as saucers. The witch couldn´t be suggesting what he thought she was. He was a Slytherin! McGonagall saw that differently though.

"You have a broom and Madame Hooch tells me that you are an exceptional flyer. Oliver Wood, the captain, will test your abilities after your last class today. But seeing that we don´t really have an alternative, you may consider yourself Gryffindor´s new seeker."

"But I´m a Slytherin! I won´t play against my own house!"

"You are a Gryffindor, Mr. Potter."

"I´m not! I´m a Slytherin who was moved to Gryffindor by the headmaster. The Hat put me in Slytherin!"

"Be that as it may, you will play for your new house."

"Who says I will do my best?"

McGonagall laughed. "Harry, you may be a lot, but you´re not a fool. Just think about your fellow Gryffindors´ reaction if they thought you hadn´t done your best." The witch had a point. Life would be hell at Gryffindor.

Harry met Oliver Wood in the Entrance Hall after his last lesson. The other boy had brought both their broomsticks and they walked down to the pitch together. Wood seemed not very comfortable with his head of house´s decision, but as there was nobody else, he had to play along.

They mounted their brooms and Harry enjoyed being back in the air. He hadn´t ridden a broom for nearly a year. He soared up and circled the hoops at both ends of the field in turn. Wood let him enjoy being airborne for a while before he challenged Harry to a race. Harry lay low on the broomstick and overtook Wood within just one lenght of the small stadium.

After the race Wood threw small white balls and Harry had to catch them. It was easy. He and Draco had used training snitches from a young age and snitches were faster and less predictable than the small golfballs.

At the end of the training session Wood was rather impressed. He praised Harry´s abilities and pronounced him officially Gryffindor´s new seeker.

-x-

The second Saturday in March saw a very reluctant Harry walk onto the Quidditch pitch in Gryffindor robes. The boy´s knuckles were white, so hard did he grip his broomstick. Worried, he glanced at the Slytherin stands where he had spent two school years giving the Gryffindors a hard time whenever they played.

They were all there. Draco, Vincent, Gregory, Pansy. All of Harry´s Slytherin friends, and they were wearing Hufflepuff colours to cheer Harry´s opponents on.

Harry felt as if he had been slapped, but then he remembered that there was a considerable number of deatheater children in Slytherin. Draco couldn´t afford cheering for Harry. If he did, he´d put Mother and Father in danger.

Harry squared his shoulders and smiled up at the blond lopsidedly.

"Come on, Harry," Fred Weasley encouraged the boy with a slap on his back. The Weasley twins were playing beaters for Gryffindor and Harry had to admit that they were the best pair of beaters at Hogwarts. With a small sigh the boy mounted his broom. He was trapped. He had to do his best or the Gryffindors were going to give him a hard time, but he didn´t want to work against his own house either. So the best was, he decided, to catch the snitch before Gryffindor was able to score too many points.

As soon as Madam Hooch had blown her whistle, Harry went looking for the snitch.

All the practice with Draco paid off. It was the shortest game in Hogwarts´ history. Harry caught the snitch after exactly 74 seconds. (The exact time was determined by using Dumbledore´s pensieve and Madam Hooch´s memory later.)

The Gryffindors were undecided whether to praise their successful seeker or to tell him off for not letting the chasers score. At last Oliver Wood declared "it was a victory after all, so don´t pull long faces" and a party at the Common Room was organised. Harry sent Dobby to the kitchens for some sweets, which convinced the last doubtful Gryffindor of his good intentions.

-x-

Shortly before Easter a note on the board in the Common Room caused excitement. So far there hadn´t been any Hogsmeade weekends this year due to Lord Voldemort´s return, but as the dark wizard seemed to concentrate his organisation´s activities on London and against the ministry, the board of governors had deemed a little excursion to buy Easter goodies safe enough.

Harry went to his godfather grudgingly to have his permission form signed. It wasn´t easy to look the man in the eye and ask for his signature, but – surprisingly for Harry – Black signed without much ado. It was Lupin who objected.

"Sirius, are you sure this is a good idea?"asked the Defense teacher. "Harry is more of a target than any other student."

"You won´t get any chocolates if I can´t shop," Harry pointed out cheekily.

"Nonsense," growled Lupin. "You didn´t go shopping for Christmas either and had your presents. Owl order worked well enough."

"But Easter is different," insisted Harry. "You can´t owl order sweets! That´s no fun!"

"He has a point, Moony," grinned Black and handed the permission form back to Harry. "You do promise, though, to be careful, don´t you?"

"I will take Shamira and Dobby," Harry replied soothingly.

Harry went to Hogsmeade with Thomas, Longbottom and Ronald Weasley. Dobby, invisible, trotted after his master, and Shamira was wrapped around the boy´s arm.

The first stop was Honeyduke´s. Harry bought a big bag of chocolate. The sweets weren´t the quality he´d have liked, but Black had provided him with a ridiculously small amount of Galleons. Of course, Harry had his own vault, which was full of gold as Father had never touched the Potter money, but Black as his godfather refused to permit Harry to spend any on sweets. Instead he insisted on giving Harry pocket money, and the sum was outrageous! One would think that Black was poor!

It was easy to get rid of the Gryffindors. Harry pointed out that a new series of cards had been added to the chocolate frogs and the three boys wandered off to the small display of frogs in a corner of the shop to investigate further. Harry quickly paid for his purchases and ducked out of the shop. He strode over to Gladrags, where he met Draco in the jeans departement.

The two boys chose two pairs of trousers each. Draco asked the shop assistant to charge Father with his purchase and Harry did the same for Sirius Black. If Black didn´t want to buy Harry clothes – so far he hadn´t, Harry was still wearing what Mother had bought for him! – he could still take the money out of Harry´s vault. Clothes weren´t sweets and necessary.

After the jeans, Harry and Draco went for lunch at the Three Broomsticks. Draco paid (Father had never been cheap with pocket money) before they went on to buy ink and parchment.

"I´d better go now," sighed Harry, who had enjoyed the day with his brother immensely. "Black said I had to be back before dusk."

"Spoilsport," sighed Draco, "but better not anger him, or he won´t let you come next time."

Harry agreed. He wouldn´t put it past Black to take away the small privilege for nothing.

The boys walked back towards Hogwarts, fooling around with a fanged frisbee Draco had bought at Zonko´s before they met. Their game was interrupted by the sound of apparition.

Three men in black robes, wearing white deatheater masks, stood on the path, their wands out.

"Well done, Malfoy!" laughed one of them. He summoned the boys´ wands before any of them could even reach for it.

"Done?" Draco´s voice was full of panic. "What did I do? Did you have me under Imperius? Harry, I swear I have no idea!"

Harry could tell by the sound of Draco´s voice that whatever was going on, Draco had no part in it. At least no willing one.

"Step aside, Malfoy," said another man. "We wouldn´t want to anger Bella by killing her nephy-pooh."

Draco squared his shoulders and moved further between the men and Harry instead of out of the way. "Aunt Bella would be livid," he sneered.

"But she would be more angry if we didn´t get Potter," laughed the third man. He cast a spell and Draco was thrown to the side, where he collided with the trunk of a tree with a loud thud. The man laughed again and pointed his wand at Harry. "My reward will be beyond my dreams!" the deatheater cried triumphantly.

There was a crackle and Dobby appeared out of thin air. "You will not hurt Harry Potter!" cried the small elf. He raised his hand and sent a wave of magic at the three deatheaters. Two were thrown back and the third lost his wand.

The wandless one, who was still standing, lunged at Harry, but Shamira was on the watch and sank her fangs into the man´s hand. The deatheater howled with pain and stumbled back. Harry used the opportunity to get to Draco. He wrapped his arms around his brother. "Dobby!" he cried, "Can you get us to Hogwarts?"

Instead of an answer, the elf gripped the boys and apparated. They arrived just inside the gates. "Did Dobby hurt Master Harry?" asked the small creature.

"I´m okay, but Draco is not! Help me!" Harry cried urgently. He tried to lift the blond to carry him up to the castle, but the boy was too heavy. Dobby cast a spell and Draco went floating in midair. All Harry had to do was push him in the right direction.

They had covered about half of the distance to the castle, when Black and Lupin came running towards them.

"Harry!" cried Black. "What happened?"

"Deatheaters!" Harry cried back.

"Deatheaters? Where?"

"About ten minutes´ walk from here! Draco tried to protect me! If it hadn´t been for Dobby, they´d have killed me."

"Are you alright."

"Yes, but Draco is hurt!"

Black and Lupin helped Harry with Draco. The men were stronger and quicker. When they reached the main entrance, Lupin picked Draco up like a ragdoll and ran up the stairs. Black was about to follow him, but Harry caught his sleeve.

"Sirius," he said urgently, "they have our wands!"

-x-

"Accio Harry Potter´s wand!" cried Black holding his own wand up into the air. He turned to his godson. "Now we wait. Let´s hope they were still nearby and I was able to surprise them. If not, I don´t see how we would get it back."

"What about Draco´s wand?" Harry asked urgently.

"They will carry it back to their lair and I´m sure Daddy will send it back."

"Can´t you try?" Harry asked in a small voice. He felt bad about Draco being wandless as a reward for trying to help his brother.

"Do you really think I can surprise them twice? I don´t think so. This will work once, if at all," Black smiled weakly. Harry felt warmed by the hint of regret in the man´s voice.

The man and boy stood in awkward silence and waited. Harry was just going to lose hope, when there was a sound like a whirlwind and his wand flew into Black´s hand.

"Let´s go to my office, I´ll show you how to prevent that in the future."

Harry trotted after the older wizard. "Can I go see Draco first?" he asked in a small voice when they went past the hospital wing. Black sighed dramatically, but allowed it. "Follow me up to my office as soon as possible," he ordered.

Madam Pomfrey was bustling about the hospital wing when Harry entered. Professor Lupin stood beside one of the beds. Harry gasped. Draco looked very pale against the white bedsheets.

"Harry!" Lupin motioned the boy to come nearer. "Madam Pomfrey says he will be alright. He´s just knocked out and two of his ribs are broken. She gave him some dreamless sleep potion. It will be easier for him to sleep through the pain of his ribs healing."

"He will be alright?" Harry asked in a small voice.

"Of course he will, Mr. Potter," confirmed the matron as she stepped beside Harry. "Now go and let him sleep. You can come and see him tomorrow after breakfast. He won´t wake before then anyway."

"If he wakes up before I come, can you tell him I´ll come to see him as soon as possible?"

"Gladly, Mr. Potter. He will be pleased to hear that."

Content, Harry left the hospital wing, oblivious of the worried glances the matron and the Defence teacher exchanged behind his back.

"That was quick," Black greeted Harry when he knocked on the office door. "Come in. What I want to teach you is a little spell to protect your wand. Try to take mine."

Harry reached out obediently to take Black´s wand from the man´s desk. He yelped when his hand stung as soon as he touched the wand.

"Normally I use a stronger curse to protect it," explained Black. "I replaced it with a simple stinging hex to show you. I will put up the original curse later. So don´t even think about taking my wand in the future."

Harry nodded. This sounded extremely useful, but how was it done? If you wanted to cast a spell on an object, you had to point your wand at it. So, how to spell a wand?

Black showed Harry how to hold his hand above the tip of his wand. "The trick is to reflect your magic from your palm back onto the wand. You utter the curse you want to hit a thief with and reflect it onto the wand. Try it with something harmless first. If you don´t reflect it properly, you will hex yourself."

It took Harry more than ten attempts to do it correctly, but then Black sprouted boils on his wrist when he touched the now protected wand.

"Very good," praised the wizard. "Now you can use something stronger. A boil curse won´t stop a dark wizard. Use something painful. You want them to drop your wand so you can get it back."

By the time he left the office, Harry had managed to protect his wand with a nasty toothache curse.

-x-

Draco looked still pale when Harry came to see him the next morning, but he was awake and spooning porridge into his mouth using his left hand.

"What´s wrong with your right?" asked Harry instead of a greeting as he sat on the edge of the hospital bed.

Draco lowered the spoon and stirred his meal awkwardly.

"Draco?"

The boy muttered something under his breath.

"Sorry, I didn´t get that." Harry was starting to feel dread. What was his brother hiding?

"I said," Draco said in a voice so low Harry could barely hear him, "I can´t move it."

"What?"Harry cried. "Pomfrey said you were going to be okay! They said you had only two broken ribs!"

"I guess they didn´t want to scare you."

"So, what´s wrong with your arm?"

"When I hit the tree, my shoulder was badly injured. The joint is ruined." Draco stared down into his breakfast bowl.

"But they can cure you, can´t they?"

"We´ll do our best, Mr. Potter," said the matron who had joined the two boys. "Mr. Malfoy, eat your breakfast! I didn´t bring that bowl for you to play with."

"Yes, Ma´am," Draco muttered and took another spoonful of porridge.

"How bad is his arm?" Harry insisted.

The matron busied herself with making up Draco´s pillows. "It will take some time and therapy," she explained then. "It´s not an injury you can heal with a simple potion. Mr. Malfoy will need to restore the damaged tissue first and then train the new muscles and tendons. It will take a while."

Harry waited for the nurse to finish and return to her office before he spoke.

"I´m sorry you got hurt because of me, Draco," he said in a small voice.

"It wasn´t you fault, and you´d have done the same for me. We are brothers." Draco looked up from his meal to finally meet Harry´s eyes. "It was that madman´s fault. Nobody else´s."

Harry nodded. "I will do anything in my power to help get rid of him!"

"And I will help you, brother," Draco replied equally solemnly.

Neither boy called it a vow, but they both knew it was as good as one.

-x-

Later that day there was a meeting at the headmaster´s office.

Black, Lupin and Harry were there. Harry and the two teachers had to repeat what had happened. The headmaster and Uncle Severus asked a question here and there.

Dobby and Shamira were praised for saving the boys.

Halfway through the meeting Lucius Malfoy burst into the office. "I demand to know what happened to my son!" he roared. As soon as the door had closed on him, he continued in a hushed voice. "He is livid. Don´t you dare send my boy home anytime soon, Dumbledore!" He handed over a wand, which Harry recognized as Draco´s, to the headmaster. As soon as he had done that, Lucius turned to Harry.

"Are you alright, Harry? Dolohov and Crabbe were knocked out, and Carrow was barely coherent enough to bring them back. What happened?"

Harry threw himself at the man and the blond wizard wrapped his arms around the boy.

Black snarled angrily, but Harry couldn´t care less. Eagerly he breathed in Father´s scent. "I missed you so much," he whispered. Lucius kissed Harry´s hair. "I missed you too, Harry," he whispered back.

Harry held onto Father like a drowning man while he told him what had happened. Father listened silently and held the boy close. When Harry had finished his tale, he had to finally let go. As soon as Harry let go of the blond, he turned on his heel. "You keep my boys safe, Dumbledore!" he hissed angrily before he left the office at top speed.

-x-

Harry left the office shortly after Father. The boy hurried down to the hospital wing to see Draco. There was so much to tell!

Draco looked still pale, but what was new was the air of sadness that surrounded the boy.

"Draco!" cried Harry. "Father was here at Hogwarts!"

"I know," Draco answered in a defeated voice that was so unlike him, "he was here. Oh Harry! He said the Lord is livid because I saved you! I can´t go home! Merlin knows what that madman will do to Mother and Father if he can´t get me!"

Harry hung his head. "You should have let them get me."

"No!" Draco stretched his good arm to pull Harry toward the bed. "No! You are my brother! You are as important as Mother and Father. But I´m sad that our family is destroyed. We both can´t go home. We don´t know how Mother and Father are, and they don´t know about us. It´s not fair!"

"Uncle Severus will tell them," Harry said soothingly.

Draco shook his head. "It´s not the same."

"But better than nothing. And we have each other."

Harry spent most of Sunday at the hospital wing, playing Exploding Snap and wizards´ chess with Draco. The blond didn´t have a single visitor all day. That was strange. Usually when one of the Malfoy boys had been ill, the hospital wing had been buzzing with Slytherins.

Shortly before dinner, Dumbledore joined the boys.

"Mr. Malfoy," he said earnestly, "I´ve made arrangements for your future residence. As you´re still unable to use your arm properly, your things have been moved for you."

"Moved?" Draco echoed.

"Well, since you have joined young Harry on Lord Voldemort´s enemy list, you´re no longer safe in Slytherin. You certainly did register your lack of visitors, didn´t you? Therefore I took the liberty to make some changes in order to ensure your safety. You are from now on a proud Gryffindor, Mr. Malfoy."

"What?" shrieked Draco. "No Malfoy has ever been a Gryffindor! How dare you insult my family in that way!"

"What you did for your brother yesterday was quite heroic, Mr. Malfoy. Worthy of a true Gryffindor. The Sorting Hat saw its mistake as soon as I mentioned the incident. You will have dinner here and after your meal, Harry will show you to your new dormitory."

Harry couldn´t but look at the old wizard in disbelief. Gryffindor had given him a hard time although he had returned Ginevra Weasley to her family and although his biological parents had been members of the house. How were they going to treat Draco, a pureblood from a long line of Slytherins?

Draco seemed to think along the same lines for he paled even further at the headmaster´s words.

When the two boys entered the Common Room two hours later, they were greeted by the whole house. Or rather ignored. Every Gryffindor was assembled in the circular tower room, but they all had their backs turned on their new housemate and nobody spoke.

"You´re being unfair. He didn´t choose to come here," Harry said to the room at large.

Nobody moved or spoke.

"Really..." Harry started again, but Draco touched his arm gently. "Leave it, Harry," the blond said. "So, where is that dorm?"

Harry sighed and showed the blond up to the third year boys´ dormitory.


	12. Chapter 12

Harry shuddered when he realised that Draco´s bed had been put in the empty spot of Finnegan´s. The Gryffindors certainly weren´t going to like that. He explained the matter to Draco quickly and the blond didn´t look thrilled about it. This was going to be harder than any of them had anticipated.

Weasley, Longbottom and Thomas glared at the brothers angrily when they came up to the dorm half an hour later. The three boys talked to each other calmly, but ignored Harry and Draco. It would have been easier if the brothers´ beds had been side by side, but Weasley´s was between theirs, so talking to each other was uncomfortable.

The next few weeks were not better. Harry was back to being an outsider within Gryffindor. The only difference was that this time he had Draco to share his afternoons and evenings with. Shortly after Draco had been moved to Gryffindor, Harry had asked Black about changing his lessons back to what he originally wanted, but Black said it was too late in the school year to do so.

"You don´t expect you will be able to catch up with Arithmancy after you missed two terms?" Black asked solemnly. "I know that Divination wasn´t your first choice, nor was Muggle studies, but you´ll have to stick with them."

"But Sirius!" Harry had whined, using the man´s first name to establish an atmosphere of proximity and trust, "I want to be a business man! I need Arithmancy and Runes! You can´t be a business man with Divination! And I´m rotten at it anyway! Ask Trelawney! The only thing I can predict is that I will fail the subject!"

"Au contraire, Harry," smiled Black, "Sybil only mentioned last week in the staff room how gifted you are. She was quite impressed with your palmestry project. Not everybody could have seen that Mr. Crabbe wishes to pursue a career as a potter until his father is ready to make him responsible of the family business." The Divination class had read the Slytherins´ hands shortly after Easter.

"Come on, Sirius! Vincent has been one of my best friends for two years," cried Harry. "He told me he liked to make vases and cups, and all I had to do was look at his fingernails to see whether he still was into the hobby. You don´t need a seer for that! I really need Arithmancy!"

"I´m sorry, Harry, it can´t be done. You´re a decent student, but you´re not good enough to catch up with that amount of work."

Harry thought about it. "And if I catch up over the summer, can I study Arithmancy and Runes then?"

"You volunteer to do that amount of work over the summer?" Black was dumbfounded.

"This is important for my future!" Harry threw his hands in the air helplessly. He had been under the care of a responsible adult who had gone to great lenghts to give Harry the best education he could get, and the Ministry had seen fit to take him, Harry, from that man and give custody to an imbecile who thought seer was a career option! All Harry could do, was hope that Father had invested his money well, for thanks to Black, he wouldn´t be able to earn any himself. He was going to live of his biological parents´ vault for the rest of his life!

"Well," Black shrugged. "It´s your summer. If you manage to catch up, I´ll arrange the changes for you."

"Thank you!" Harry beamed. Maybe there was still hope for his future.

-x-

The rest of the school year passed with lots of work. Harry and Draco both worked hard to excel in the exams. They wanted to make their parents proud although they weren´t going to be able to give them their results personally.

The day after the last exam, both boys were called to the headmaster´s office. Uncle Severus was there, and he looked very earnest.

"Is something wrong with Mother and Father?" Draco cried, worried by the man´s gloomy attitude.

Uncle Severus looked at the headmaster for permission before he spoke. "When you didn´t return for Easter, the Dark Lord was furious. He wanted to punish you for interfering when the deatheaters had cornered Harry. When you didn´t come, he punished your parents instead." Harry and Draco gasped both. "He needs your father if he wants to use the Manor as headquarters, but not your mother."

"No!" cried Draco. Harry hugged the blond. "What happened," he asked, barely holding back tears of desperation.

"He tortured her," Uncle Severus said solemnly. "And he would have killed her, hadn´t your Aunt Bellatrix begged him for mercy for her sister."

"She´s alive?" Draco asked meekly.

Uncle Severus confirmed it. "She was badly hurt and she needed lots of potions – which I provided – but she´s alive and quite well. There is a small scar on her chin, but nothing too big."

"Why didn´t you tell me earlier?"

"Your Father asked me not to. He didn´t want you worried while you were supposed to study for your exams. He says that you learn as much as you can is more important than ever, now that you can´t rely on inheriting a fortune any longer."

"He wants to disinherit me?" Draco was dumbfounded.

"Of course not," interfered the headmaster. "Voldemort is using the Malfoy fortune for his cause and he´s spending lots, rewarding his followers and bribing those he wants to recruit. Severus tells me that the Manor houses a good dozen of people all the time. Most of them have spent years in Azkaban. Your Father spends great sums to repair the damage they're doing. If this goes on for years, there may not be much left to inherit."

-x-

The summer was spent at Grimmauld Place. Black had grudgingly agreed to take Draco in as well. The boys spent several hours studying every day. Harry Arithmancy and Runes, Draco looked up all kinds of spells, mostly duelling spells.

Two weeks into the holidays, Dumbledore turned up and told them that being under Fidelius, the house was warded against the ministry registering any magic from it.

"But that means we can do magic here!" cried Harry. "Why didn´t you let me use my wand last year?"

"My dear boy," sighed Dumbledore, "last year I wasn´t sure about Voldemort´s return and plans, but this year we clearly are at war. Being who you are, you´d better be prepared to become a part of it rather sooner than later. And I won´t let you got to battle unprepared. You will both receive lessons, starting today. We will train you to fight."

"Who?" Harry asked eagerly.

"I myself, Severus, Sirius, Remus and some others." Dumbledore smiled secretively. "Today, it will be me."

Harry wasn´t sure whether to faint or cheer. Lessons with the supposedly most powerful wizard alive? That was exciting and scary at the same time.

Dumbledore led the way down to the basement of the house. "Orion Black liked to practice – and train his sons – at home from time to time. We´ll use that to our advantage." He opened an inconspicious door in a dark corridor and stepped aside to let the boys go inside first.

Harry gasped. Where he had expected a small chamber, was a room as big as Hogwarts´ Great Hall!

"Welcome to your new classroom," smiled the old wizard. "Now, let´s start easy today. I want to know how well you are able to defend yourselves."

The headmaster started easy, with kids´ stuff like jelly leg jinxes and bat bogey hexes. Harry and Draco deflected them easily, and little by little Dumbledore used stronger spells.

"That was an excellent defensive battle, boys," he praised them an hour later. "Harry, I noticed that you flourish your wand a little bit too much sometimes." He spent several minutes explaining how Harry could react faster. After dealing with Harry, he gave Draco some hints, too. By the time they finally went upstairs for dinner both boys were exhausted.

-x-

Black watched as the boys sat down at the kitchen table, both faces flushed with excitement as well as exhaustion. He put two glasses on the table and poured cold pumpkin juice from a jug, which he then set down as well. With a small smile he watched the boys gulp down their drink.

"I take it you enjoyed the lesson?"

"Very much," Harry replied eagerly. "Why didn´t you tell me you had a training room?" It was one thing Malfoy Manor didn´t have, though not due to lacking means but rather thanks to the fact that it had several ballrooms big enough to train a small army.

"I don´t like it very much," muttered the man, "bad memories."

Harry didn´t ask for details as he didn´t want to pry (Mother would have his hide for such bad behaviour), but he made a mental note to find out more when the opportunity arose.

Once the boys had quenched their worst thirst, Kreacher served an excellent meal, especially given the limited means he had. Black still hadn´t cared to put some work into the household as he had spent most of the school year at Hogwarts. Harry made sure to praise the elf´s work and Draco followed his lead.

The next days brought more lessons. Black taught them defensive spells against bodily attacks, Lupin spells to repel magical beings such as boggarts, dementors, poltergeists and undead. Dumbledore returned to teach them spells of attack. At the weekend, Uncle Severus turned up to teach them the most weird thing of all: how to repel a mental attack. Occlumency.

"It should come easy to you, Draco. Your aunt, Bellatrix, is a superb occlumens, so I expect you to succeed quite easily as these gifts often run in the family. Harry, you may have trouble. Neither your father nor your mother were anywhere near gifted at mind magic. Of course, I don´t know about your grandparents. The gift may have left out a generation. Only don´t be disappointed if you have to work harder than Draco."

´Work harder´ turned out to be the understatement of the century. While Draco had no problem to throw Uncle Severus out of his mind – though he wasn´t able to prevent him from entering it in the first place, but that would have been asked too much for a first lesson anyway – Harry was entirely helpless against the potions master´s assaults. Uncle Severus dug up memory after memory at his leisure. Harry was grateful his childhood had been happy and protected so far, or it would have been embarrassing. As it was, Harry pouting in his room last summer was the worst the man found and that was not so bad.

"This is worse than I anticipated," sighed Uncle Severus. "I will try to come as often as I can to give you extra training. I will show you some easy exercises you can do to improve a bit on your own."

Harry nodded eagerly. The lesson had been exhausting, but if he had to learn this to protect Mother and Father against Lord Voldemort, he was going to do it even if it was the last thing he ever did.

-x-

This year´s birthday was happier by far than last year´s. It was amazing, how much of a difference one guest could make. Black had arranged a small party, with the Weasleys (Ronald and his brothers still refused to speak to Draco) and the boys´ tutors as guests. There were only some small presents and the games were awkward thanks to the enemity between the Gryffindor bunch and Draco (who was the epitome of politeness and good manners), but the cake Kreacher had made was superb.

In the evening Harry and Draco sat in Harry´s bedroom and giggled over a discussion of all the spells they could have used on the Weasley boys. The twins had complained that they weren´t allowed to use magic over the summer. Due to secrecy, Harry and Draco hadn´t told about their extra lessons, but it had felt good to know they had something the others wanted.

-x-

August passed with more training. While Harry excelled with all kinds of fighting spells, he still had to find a start with occlumency. Uncle Severus, true to his word, instructed Draco how to help his brother practice, and Draco was a willing and patient tutor, but all they achieved through their practice sessions – his lack of talent didn´t lessen Harry´s determination – was that Draco had become a decent legilimens by the end of the month.

"I really don´t understand it," said Draco when they sat down to practice one last time before returning to Hogwarts for their fouth school year. "You are brilliant at all other branches of magic you tried. It is beyond me how you can be so abysmal at occlumency. It really isn´t that hard."

"Says the nephew of an occlumens and heir to a long line of occlumenses," snorted Harry.

"Not all the Malfoys knew the art," muttered the blond.

"But an occlumens in the family every other generation, that is really rare, Draco. I read up on occlumency, you know? Malise Malfoy and even your own great-grandmother Lucretia made it onto the list of the one-hundred most skilled occlumenses throughout history in Barnabie´s Guide to the Mental Arts." Harry sighed. "I wish I had a small portion of your gift, Draco! I need to learn this in order to protect Mother and Father. They will suffer if I fail!"

Draco nodded. "I know. We won´t give up until you know how to do it," he promised.

-x-

The next morning Black and several others accompanied the boys to the Hogwarts Express. Black and Lupin took their luggage with them to school, but the headmaster had decided for the boys to go there by train "to have a chance to socialise with their friends". The fact that Harry and Draco were the only friends to each other at the time being was overlooked.

As soon as the small group had stepped on the platform, Sirius Black made a beeline for Arthur Weasley who stood amidst his sons talking to a man with an impressive black beard.

"Hello Arthur!" he greeted the man. "Good to meet you and your boys." He shook hands with the Weasleys, and Harry and Draco reluctantly followed his lead.

"Hello!" Mr. Weasley looked a bit worried but tried his best to show a cheerful face. "This is Amos Diggory and his son, Cedric." Harry spotted the blond boy beside his father only then. Cedric was tall, but his father still towered over him so that the boy was easily overlooked. "Do you have guards with you?" Mr. Weasley craned his neck to see past Black. "We were at the World Cup and there was an incident. Deatheaters openly attacked a muggle family. They are getting bolder. You have to be careful."

"Then better get the children onto the train," Black turned and ushered Draco and Harry towards the express and the other two men followed his lead.

Harry and Draco tried to keep friendly faces although they were not thrilled about being stuck in a compartement with the Weasley boys. The journey turned out to be not so bad though. The Weasleys gladly provided them with a move to move account of the game, which Ireland had won despite the Bulgarian seeker´s splendid performance.

They had nearly reached Hogsmeade when the good spirits in the compartement ended. One of the twins mentioned the deatheater incident.

"I´m sure you know all about that, Malfoy, don´t you?" Ronald added to his brother´s remark. "Your father certainly was one of them and told you about it."

Harry and Draco were out of their seats in an instant. The twins needed all their strength to prevent the two boys from giving their brother the beating of his lifetime. By the time they had managed to wrestle the Malfoy boys back into their seats, Ronald had a serious nose-bleed and his left eye was blackening.

-x-

Of course Ronald´s injuries didn´t go unnoticed when they arrived at Hogwarts. First, the other Gryffindors shot the Malfoy brothers angry looks, then Minerva McGonagall took it upon herself to investigate the circumstances of the youngest Weasley´s injury. She pushed Harry and Draco into a small chamber near the one where the first years were waiting for their sorting and glared at the two boys angrily.

"Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy!" the witch raged. "There are people working hard to protect you! And you thank them by hitting a fellow student and risking expulsion? I would have thought better of you!"

"He insulted our father!" hissed Draco.

"What can he have said that is worth your lives?" The teacher was outraged.

Harry put a soothing hand on Draco´s arm. The darkhaired boy had spent more time in Gryffindor and knew how to handle the head of house. "We´re sorry, Madam," he said in a calm voice, "we have been fearing for the well-being of our family for the past few months and when Ronald Weasley accused our father of being one of the deatheaters who attacked at the World Cup – an event we couldn´t see due to circumstances – it was too much. We got carried away." He made a pause, which Draco used to nod with his best guilty expression. "We know how much you and your coworkers risk on our behalf and we will do our best to not work against you in the future."

"Ronald Weasley said not a word that isn´t true," huffed McGonagall, but her voice was softer and her eyes were full of sadness.

"He did," Harry said equally softly. "He made it sound as if father had had a choice."

Draco nodded again and Harry made a mental note to congratulate him later for perfecting that look of fighting back the tears. McGonagall was impressed and sent them off for the feast before she went to lead the anxious first years into the Great Hall. By the time they reached the Gryffindor table, both brothers had back their air of superiority.

The sorting held no surprises. Most children went into the houses their families had been in before. Harry and Draco could tell by the names where their new schoolmates were going to end up. It was rather boring, although the muggle-raised students admired their seer qualities. The fact that nobody voiced their admiration aloud added to the boredom.

Things got more exciting when Dumbledore made his start of year announcements. After mentioning the ever-ignored list of forbidden items, he announced that Hogwarts was going to host the Triwizard Tournament this school year. Harry and Draco smiled at each other. How often had they read about it! There was a book about it back at home. In the past centuries there had been one Malfoy and two Potters among the winners! When they were smaller, Harry and Draco had often pretended to be Arcturus Malfoy, who had fought a dragon at the age of sixteen to win, or Bernard Potter, who had won after magicking a copy of Hogwarts despite the confusion that particular piece of magic had caused especially among younger students. They never pretended to be Eleonora Potter, although her transport of a fully grown giant squid into the black lake was very impressive. Malfoys never pretended to be girls.

The Gryffindors got really upset when the headmaster announced that only students of age were allowed to put their names down to enter. Harry and Draco just shrugged. Even though they would have liked to add their names to the winner list, it was out of the question. The Triwizard Tournament was too dangerous with the Dark Lord on the loose.

-x-

Harry started the new school year with missing classes, but he didn´t care because he had Divination first and then Muggle Studies. Instead of joining the Gryffindors at Professor Trelawney´s heavily perfumed tower classroom, Harry sat his exam in Arithmancy. Draco had helped him all summer with the subjects he wanted to take instead of what Sirius had forced on him. Harry did – as far as he could tell – quite well. Father always had encouraged the boys to learn about anything they needed to follow in his footsteps as business men and Arithmancy certainly had been on their curriculum.

Ancient Runes, which he to take his test at immediately after the Arithmancy test, was a different matter. Ancient Runes wasn´t so important for business, but rather for understanding about old magic. Neither Harry nor Draco had ever been taught runes at home since Father had deemed it too difficult for their age. So Harry had had to begin at the very start with his studies over the summer. That he was exhausted after his first test, didn´t help either.

"How did it go?" Draco asked when Harry left the professor´s office.

"Not as good as Arithmancy," Harry admitted. "Professor Babbling insisted I translate without using a dictionary!"

"Oh no!" Draco placed a soothing hand on Harry´s shoulder. "She usually lets us use one! Did she say why you couldn´t?"

Harry sighed. "She doesn´t think I was able to catch up properly over the summer. She didn´t even try to hide she doesn´t want me in her class."

"Tell me about the text."

On the way to lunch the brothers discussed the text Harry had been given to translate. Draco remembered having translated it for homework last year and therefore was able to tell whether Harry had done well. It seemed that Harry had not remembered some of the more sophisticated meanings correctly, but had got the overall meaning of the text correct. Now all they could do was wait for the professor´s verdict.

Draco was just getting a second helping of apple pie for dessert when Professor Vector walked into the hall. Harry rose from his seat when he saw her.

"Congratulations, Potter. You did well in your test. So, if you choose to, you´re very welcome to my class." The witch smiled.

"Thank you, Professor!" Harry had to muster all his dignity not to beam at the woman like a fool. He was going to get rid of Trelawney! For one thing was certain, if he had passed only one exam, he was going to drop Divination in favour of the new subject. Father was going to be pleased. Arithmancy certainly was the more important of the subjects Harry wanted to read.

It turned out that he had worried in vain though. Professor Babbling made an appearance shortly after her colleague.

"I wouldn´t have believed it, Potter," she said in a booming voice that carried through the whole hall. "But you did it! Welcome to my class!" That said she shooed a first year aside to sit on the bench beside Harry to discuss the mistakes he had made.

Harry used the good opportunity to get some expert information and asked some questions on things he hadn´t understood when Draco explained them. The professor explained them patiently. When she finally got up, she smiled. "It seems you will be a good addition to the course. We need people who ask the right questions."

Draco congratulated Harry and forewent his second apple pie in favour of going to Sirius Black´s office and ask him to make the necessary changes for Harry.

Harry felt happy like he hadn´t since the Dark Lord had made his appearance. His first lesson this afternoon was going to be Arithmancy! The change of schedule meant that he had missed a potions lesson and double charms in the morning, but he was good enough at those subjects to catch up in the evening.

Strangely enough the Gryffindors acted offended by Harry´s change of subjects. Not that his presence had made much of a difference in the past. Harry, on the other hand, was not sorry that he was rid of those almost exclusively Gryffindor lessons. In his new subjects, the only Gryffindor present was going to be Hermione Granger and that girl ignored him most of the time anyway.

-x-

Sirius Black acted the proud godfather when Harry informed him that he had passed the necessary exams to change courses. Draco stood beside his brother, quietly observing.

"That´s wonderful news, Harry," the man beamed. "It seems you have a good brain under that mop of hair. Your parents would be so proud of you!"

Harry smiled back. "I´ll ask Uncle Severus to tell them when he sees them." He couldn´t deny feeling a bit smug. There had not been very much time to study for the exams besides duelling and occlumency lessons over the summer.

The boy realised his mistake immediately. Sirius Black´s face fell. Oh! The man had been speaking about Harry´s biological parents! Harry blushed. "I´m sorry," he muttered.

"Don´t be," Draco intervened. "Mother and Father don´t deserve that." It was said gently, but Harry felt like he had been struck with a fist. Had he really apologized for calling Mother and Father his parents?

Surprisingly, it was Sirius Black, who saved the situation. "Draco is right," he said softly. "I´m still not used to how you feel about the Malfoys, but you wouldn´t if they hadn´t given you reason to. I´m afraid we´ll be unable to completely avoid situations like that in the future. But we should try to not take them too seriously."

Harry smiled with relief. In the past his godfather had not reacted well to him calling the Malfoys his parents.

After dinner Harry was informed by professor McGonagall that the headmaster had approved of his new courses and that Harry was to share Draco´s timetable starting tomorrow. Harry was very glad. He was going to see Draco in every lesson that year!

Three weeks into the new school year, on one of the last sunny Friday evenings of the year, the guests for the Triwizard Tournament arrived. First the students from Beauxbatons, who arrived with their headmistress in a blue coach pulled by giant flying horses, and half an hour later the students from Durmstrang by ship.

Harry and Draco – like all Hogwarts students – admired the strange school uniforms. Beauxbatons wore blue silk robes and as most of those students were blond, they resembled muggle fairies. Durmstrang – who hadn´t brought a single girl – wore bright red trousers and jackets, with fur linings. They looked like soldiers from a different century.

There was a feast in honour of the Beauxbatons students sat with Ravenclaw and the Durmstrang boys with Slytherin. Harry and Draco suffered. If only they could take their rightful places at their house table! They would have been able to talk to the guests. As it was, they could only watch them from afar, which was really bad considering that one of the Durmstrang boys was no other than the Bulgarian seeker, Victor Krum.

The boys´ only advantage was that the guests were going to join the Hogwarts students for lessons and as a young wizard of breeding, Victor Krum certainly was going to be in Arithmancy and Runes.

Harry and Draco were in for a disappointment. Victor Krum was the only student who did not join normal lessons. His headmaster, Igor Karkaroff, taught him in private.

"Well," Draco drawled on their way to the Great Hall from their Runes class (Harry had done quite well), "on second thought, it was to be expected. He´s famous, and how is he supposed to learn when most of the class is mooning over him? It would be too distracting, I guess."

Harry agreed. Nevertheless he would have loved to befriend the famous Quidditch player.

Three weeks later, when everybody had settled into the new school year including the guests, the entire school met in the evening for a big feast. The event was to mark the beginning of the Triwizard Tournament. Everybody wore their best robes for the occasion. The Head Table had been enlarged to seat some guests from the ministry. The Head of the Department of Games and Sports, Ludo Bagman, and the Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, Bartemius Crouch, were there as well as some people Harry and Draco couldn´t name (which probably meant that they weren´t important).

After the food had been cleaned away by the hungry crowd, Filch brought in a nicely decorated wooden crate. Dumbledore opened it with a flick of his wand to reveal a simple wooden goblet. The students aahed and oohed as was expected of them, though Harry thought the goblet was a bit disappointing.

Mr. Crouch stepped forward to make a speech. "After a pause of three decades we´ve met again to hold the Triwizard Tournament," the wizard started. "The winner will gain eternal glory. His or her name will be added to the list of winners on the Triwizard Cup and generations to come will admire their achievement. In lengthy negotiations we came to the agreement that modern times require new rules. Therefore only students of age will be allowed to join the tournament."

There was an uproar. Seemingly many Gryffindors – actually everybody from fourth year up – had planned to sign up for the contest. The adults ignored the protests and the headmaster continued by explaining how to sign up. It was simple enough. A piece of parchment with your name was all you needed.

At the end of his speech the headmaster pointed his wand at the goblet and blue flames burst to life.

"The Triwizard Tournament has begun!" announced Mr. Crouch.

The contestants were to be chosen the next evening to give the students 24 hours to sign up. Actually, only the Hogwarts students needed the time. Beauxbatons and Durmstrang had brought only students who were going to join. Both principals led their students to the goblet before they retired and every boy and girl dropped their name into the goblet.

The next day the Great Hall was fuller than ever before. Students were seen reading or writing homework at the House Tables instead at the library or the Common Rooms to see who entered the tournament.

Harry and Draco watched the Weasley twins try to get past the age line that surrounded the goblet. They laughed with the other Gryffindors when the twins were thrown back by the protective magic.

In the evening there was another feast, though the food was not as festive as the day before. This was less of a celebration but rather a meeting to find out who was going to compete. There were even more guests than the day before, mostly ministry people who were going to serve as judges or help with the tasks the champions had to perform. Draco pointed Harry towards one wizard whom Uncle Severus was eyeing suspiciously.

After everybody had had their dessert, Dumbledore as headmaster of the hosting school stepped up to the goblet and set its ancient magic to work with a wave of his wand.

The flames roared up as if he had added a combustible fluid. Harry and Draco gasped like most of the students.

"It´s time!" the headmaster announced, "to find out who will stand for their schools. The goblet chooses the most worthy. It looks for magical skills as well as courage and determination. The goblet´s choices are final. They cannot be discussed or changed. Now," he rose his voice, "LET´S FIND OUT!"

The old wizard rose his hand and a slip of parchment flew from the now red flames right into his palm. It smoked a little bit, but obviously the writing was undamaged.

"The champion for Durmstrang is Victor Krum!" cried Dumbledore.

Headmaster Karkaroff looked smug, most of his students didn´t bat a lash. Seemingly everybody had expected the Quidditch star to be chosen. The students of the other two schools clapped politely.

When the applause had died down, Dumbledore raised his hand again. The flames turned red once again and an elegantly folded piece of parchment was emitted.

"The champion for Beauxbatons is Fleur Delacour!"

There was less applause than for Krum, but some of the Beauxbatons students cheered loudly until their headmistress stopped them with a stern glance. An other Beauxbatons girl burst into tears because she hadn´t been chosen.

"A girl?" whispered Ronald. "The goblet thinks a girl can beat Krum?"

"Don´t be stupid! I´d wipe the floor with you in a magical duell any time," hissed Hermione Granger and the youngest Weasley shut up and hung his head awkwardly.

Draco and Harry grinned at each other. They had grown up with stories about Draco´s aunt Bellatrix, who seemed to have been quite the duellist before she disappeared.

The Gryffindors fell quiet when the flames changed colour for a third time and the goblet spit out a third piece of parchment. This was actually the most interesting part of the evening. The announcement of the Hogwarts champion had been awaited anxiously. All four houses wanted the honour – and potiential glory – for themselves.

Harry and Draco both looked smug. Most Hogwarts champions in history had been Slytherins. Even Gryffindor – the house of the brave – had been rarely chosen. "The goblet doesn´t go for foolhardiness," Father used to say. There had been two or three Ravenclaws, but Hufflepuff had never been chosen.

They were all in for a surprise.

"The Hogwarts champion is Cedric Diggory!" cried the headmaster.

The Hufflepuff table went wild. Cedric Diggory, their best quidditch player in centuries, was the first Hufflepuff Triwizard contestant ever! The tall blond blushed crimson (Harry wondered how the boy was going to deal with the competition when being chosen alone embarrassed him so much.) and followed Krum and Delacour through the door that the teachers usually used to enter the hall.

"Excellent!" cried the headmaster. "Excellent! We have found our champions, now go to bed and rest! For in three weeks time…" The wizard fell silent when the goblet´s flames turned red for a fourth time unexpectedly. "What?" he muttered softly, but the hall was so silent he was heard into the last corner.

The flames burst up higher than ever before and then died down altogether. From the ceiling of the hall – seemingly out of the clouds – fluttered a small piece of parchment. Dumbledore paled when he read it. The old wizard shook his head. "This is not possible!" he muttered.

"Whaat iiz iit, Aalbuz?" asked the French headmistress.

"Harry Potter!" cried the old wizard. "The goblet chose Harry Potter!"

Sirius Black was up from his seat in an instant. "I will not allow him to compete! It´s my right as his guardian to forbid it!"

There was an uproar. Some were scandalized because the goblet had chosen two Hogwarts champions, others because Harry was too young to compete and a third group protested against Sirius Black´s intervention.

The headmaster raised his hands and asked for silence in a magically magnified voice. He got it. Everybody looked at the old wizard expectantly, even the ministry officials.

"We´ll continue the discussion at my office," he announced into the silence.

There were murmurs of protest, but things were handled as Dumbledore had suggested.

Ten minutes later, everybody involved was at the office, which must have been magically enlarged to host that number of people. There were the principals of all three schools, the three regular champions, Harry and Draco (Harry clutching his brother´s hand desperately), Sirius Black as Harry´s guardian, professors McGonagall and Snape (both claiming to be Harry´s head of house), Mr. Crouch, Mr. Bagman and three ministry people, who were introduced as Alastor Moody, Rufus Scrimgeour and Kingsley Shacklebolt, all aurors who were to be responsible for all security issues connected with the tournament.

"As I said before," said Sirius without preamble, "I forbid Harry to participate in the tournament. It´s too dangerous for a wizard his age."

"I agree with the danger," said , "that was why we introduced the age limit, but the goblet´s choice makes a binding magical contract. Mr. Potter was chosen and he cannot refuse to participate."

Sirius paced in front of the fireplace nervously and this time Harry noticed the office growing in length to give him room to do it. "What would be the consequences if he didn´t compete?" he asked after a little while.

"His magic would be seriously damaged. In hasn´t happened in centuries, so we can only rely on very old reports, but he may even end up as a squib!" Mr. Crouch smiled apologetically, as if the goblet´s magical powers were his personal fault.

"Buut it´s compleetely unfair if Hogwarts has two champions!" cried Madame Maxime, the headmistress of Beauxbatons. "If se littell boy compeetes, I insist we get a secoond champion, too!"

"Oh, yes!" cried Fleur Delacour. "Violet could compete! She wants it so badly!" She fell silent at a stern look from her teacher.

"It´s impossible," said Mr. Bagman. "The fire went out after Harry´s name had come out. What a pity! Six champions would have meant double the fun!"

"As it seems clear that Harry has to participate," Uncle Severus chimed in, "we should ask ourselves why the goblet gave four names. Somebody must have tampered with the goblet."

"Only a very strong confundus charm could have fooled a powerful magical objects such as the goblet of fire," said Mr. Moody. The other aurors agreed.

"Then we should find out who cast it!" demanded Sirius Black. "Albus, you are the most powerful of us. Can you find out?"

"I´m afraid not," sighed the headmaster. "The goblet is so magical, any charm cast on it would be hidden by its own magic."

Sirius Black was not satisfied so easily. "If the goblet is so magical, it takes a very powerful wizard to fool it. Only few at Hogwarts could have done it. I demand we question every witch and wizard present!"

"That´s a good idea," agreed auror Shacklebolt. "We should use some truth draught. We don´t have time to deal with a net of lies."

"Severus can supply us with Veritaserum, I suppose," added the headmaster.

A nearby classroom was used as an interrogation chamber. Uncle Severus hurried down to the dungeons and returned with a small vial of clear liquid.

Madame Maxime and headmaster Karkaroff insisted Harry be interviewed first and in order to quickly find out who was the culprit Sirius Black permitted it. Uncle Severus administered one drop of Veritaserum.

They asked Harry only one question: "Did you enter the tournament?"

After Harry had truthfully answered that no, he hadn´t, the adults put their heads together who to interview next. Sirius Black insisted they interrogated the aurors first, because they were doing the interrogations (it was part of their usual job after all) and he wanted to know whether they could trust them.

The interrogation of Kingsley Shacklebolt was routine, but Rufus Scrimgeour´s brought a surprise.

"Yes, I added Harry Potter´s name to the goblet. I cast a spell to make the goblet think four schools were participating," the auror confessed.

Alastor Moody was the quickest to draw his wand, but Albus Dumbledore was a close second. But while Moody cast a spell to bind his colleague, the headmaster cast a spell to reveal Imperius. Auror Scrimgeour had, indeed, fallen victim to the unforgivable spell.

There was not much gained on first sight. They knew now who had added Harry´s name to the flames, but who had made him do it?

"Alastor," the headmaster said firmly, "I insist you be interrogated next."

Under the influence of the truth potion Alastor Moody not only confessed having imperiussed his co-worker, but also not actually being Alastor Moody. The man was a deatheater under polyjuice!

"You can´t make it undone!" the man screeched when Shacklebolt and Scrimgeour led him out of the room. "Potter has to compete and he will die in the competition! My reward will be beyond your wildest dreams! The Dark Lord will rule forever!"

Everybody was dumbfounded.

"We will help you as much as we can, Harry," promised Sirius and Draco squeezed Harry´s hand reassuringly. The other three champions looked at the younger boy pityingly.

"I want to go to bed now," Harry said weakly. He would be lucky if he made it to the privacy of his fourposter before the tears came.


	13. Chapter 13

Another meeting at the headmaster´s office was called the next day. Harry insisted Draco come with him despite his brother hadn´t been invited. There were no ministry officials this time, only members of the Order.

"We have to figure out why Voldemort would want Harry in the Triwizard tournament," Dumbledore said as an introduction. "And what to do about it."

"There´s not much to figure out," said Uncle Severus. "More skilled wizards than Harry have been killed in the tournament."

"You think he means to kill Harry?" asked Sirius.

"He didn´t succeed last time," shrugged the potions master. "So it´s only logical he´ll try again."

Remus Lupin agreed. "Harry is the child of the prophecy, and he managed to win over Voldemort once. I think it´s safe to assume he wants to get rid of the boy."

Harry paled. He had read about the tasks the champions had had to face in the past. They had to fight vicious beasts, acquire rare magical objects or plants or tread on grounds they had never even considered to enter. Several hundred years ago all three champions had died in the attempt to pick a magical flower at the full moon in a forest full of werewolves.

"We have to help Harry!" insisted Draco. He turned to Dumbledore. "You are the headmaster and a judge in the tournament. You must know about the tasks in advance. You have to teach Harry how to deal with what the ministry came up with."

"But that would be cheating!" cried Dumbledore, scandalized. All present Gryffindors agreed.

The Slytherins rolled their eyes. "We´re talking about the Golden Child. The only chance wizardkind has against a mad megalomaniac!" hissed Uncle Severus. "Don´t tell me you worry about the rules of a petty game!"

"Ah," sneered Sirius Black. "Ever the Slytherin. No honour at all."

Uncle Severus faced the other wizard and looked him up and down, wrinkling his nose. "I'd rather live in a free world with my honour damaged than under the Dark Lord´s reign with my honour intact."

Draco sneered at the man. "Ten men´s honour is a small price for the freedom of a world."

The headmaster interrupted their quarrel tiredly. "As hard I find it to admit, Severus is right. We can´t risk Harry´s life, under no circumstances. The first task involves dragons. They have to get past one to steal an egg."

"Do you think Harry can put enough power into a stunning spell to overcome a dragon?" Lupin asked the room at large.

"Certainly not," muttered Uncle Severus. "We need something else."

Sirius Black suggested a spell to hinder the dragon´s eyesight. The headmaster thought of using a tripping jinx. Within minutes the wizards were quarrelling what Harry should do.

"The task is only in November," Dumbledore said at last. "I suggest everybody thinks about it and we meet again next Sunday to figure out how Harry can win over the dragon."

Everbody agreed and Harry and Draco returned to the Common Room to do their homework.

"Why so pale, Potter?" they were greeted by Ronald Weasley. "Have you seen a ghost?" He chuckled.

"Shut up, Weasley," Draco hissed angrily. He went up to their dormitory to get some books. Tucked away in a corner of the room, the brothers started their translation of runes. Soon they were discussing the different meanings of a symbol. Harry found it was very relaxing after the exciting weekend he´d had.

Although the Malfoy brothers had read plenty of books on dragons before they had even come to Hogwarts, Harry made a new habit of spending at least an hour a day at the library to read up on the beasts. Draco was by his side all the time and what the two boys found did not make them more confident.

Dragons existed in various kinds and as different as their appearance was, was their behaviour. There were dragons who never left their eggs (the Brasil beak-snout, Harry just hoped they hadn´t any of those) and others who only stayed nearby to fend off attackers before they even reached the nest (the Ukrain venom-tooth). Others used their claws in fights (Russian sabre-nail), others prefered their tail as a weapon (Hungarian horn-tail) and others, like the Chinese fire-ball, breathed fire at their enemies. There were also some which actually bit their attackers, but those were rather small and Harry didn´t think that anything in this tournament was going to be small.

"There´s not much we can do," sighed the boy, "unless we find out which dragons they got."

Draco thought about it. "That´s a good idea. So, where can they keep dragons on the grounds without anybody from the castle noticing?"

That was obvious. "The forest."

"We have to go to the forest then," Draco stated matter-of-factly.

"Are you crazy?" Harry stared at the blond in disbelief. "The forest is forbidden for a reason. For plenty of reasons, actually."

"None of those reasons is significant enough to have my brother eaten by a dragon," growled Draco.

Harry felt warmth wash over him. He smiled. "Thank you," he muttered and added louder, "I´m not ready to endanger my brother if I can help it. There must be a different way. Going to the forest sounds more Gryffindor than Slytherin."

"Hey," pouted Draco, "no need to insult me. – So what else can we do?"

"Perhaps worm the secret out of somebody?"

Draco made a dismissive gesture. "I think if they knew more, they´d have told us."

Harry smiled smugly. "But who do we know who deals with all kinds of beasts and certainly has to be informed about any dragon brought to Hogwarts?"

"Hagrid!" cried Draco triumphantly.

His cry must have been too loud for Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger came around one of the bookshelves. "What do you have to do with Hagrid?" asked the girl.

"Leave Hagrid alone!" snarled Weasley.

Harry raised his hands in a defensive gesture. "We don´t mean him any harm."

"As if we´d believe you." Weasley towered over the two Slytherins. They´d both have been dead instantly if glares could kill.

"Really, Weasley," drawled Draco with an air of superiority. "We have enough on our plate with Harry in that tournament, do you really think we have time to hurt Hagrid? And I ask you, what for would we do that?"

"Because Slytherins are evil?"

Granger shook her head. "Ronald, Slytherins are ready to commit evil if it gives them an advantage. But I can´t see what they could gain by hurting Hagrid."

Weasley watched the two boys through slitted eyes calculatingly. At last he relaxed. "So what do you want with Hagrid."

"It´s kind of a secret," said Harry, defensive.

Draco smiled. "You know, you should make use of all the help you can get. Can you keep a secret, Weasley, Granger?"

The two Gryffindors were much too eager to find out what all this was about to refuse. They promised to keep whatever they learned a secret and Draco explained.

"A dragon?" Granger asked in a high-pitched voice. "They let a fourteen year old go against a dragon?"

Harry nodded. "That´s why we wanted to find out from Hagrid which kind of dragons they have. Even with all that information it will be hard to survive."

Granger nodded. "A wizard of your age shouldn´t be made face a dragon. I will help you in any way I can." Weasley nodded, deadly pale.

"That´s a generous offer," Draco said solemnly. "You two know Hagrid better than we. Do you think you can find out which dragons they have?"

Weasley´s face lit up. "My brother works with dragons. I could use that to broach the topic."

"Excellent," Draco beamed as if Weasley had just promised him his first-born. "So you deal with Hagrid and we read up on what you found out."

Granger nodded. "I will help read. I´m good with books."

Despite Weasley promising to help, the Malfoy brothers continued with their work in the library, only now Hermione Granger sat with them every day. The girl proved quite useful. She didn't have the knowledge Draco and Harry had gathered in years of roaming the Malfoy library, but she knew how to organize her work. Harry caught Draco and her smiling at each other more than once and he couldn't help feeling a bit jealous.

It was nearly two weeks later that Ronald Weasley was able to worm the required information out of Hagrid.

"A Chinese fireball, a Norwegian ridgeback, a Welsh green and a Hungarian horntail," he ticked them off on his fingers.

"But that´s not fair!" cried Hermione. "A Chinese fireball is only half the size of a Welsh green and a horntail is faster than them all."

"Not to forget the tail," muttered Harry.

"I really hope they won´t give you that one," said the girl and for the first time Harry felt she was really worried for him.

"The real problem is," sighed Draco, "that those four species are very different. We´ll need to work out four strategies for you. I suggest we start with the horntail. It´s the most dangerous and whatever works with it will work with the others, too, in some way."

Harry and Granger agreed and they set to work. Weasley joined them, but he was quite useless with books. As he had dealt with Hagrid so well though, neither Harry nor Draco said anything about it.

-x-

"Madam Pince tells me you´re a regular at the dragon section in the library?" Uncle Severus asked when Harry came to the dungeons for another occlumency lesson (disguised as detention).

"Well, I need a strategy," Harry pointed out.

"Indeed. And I think it´s very wise not to rely on your teachers but work on it yourself."

Harry nodded. "Anything new from Mother and Father?" The lessons in Uncle Severus´s office were the only opportunity to ask.

"They´re well." Uncle Severus smiled. "The Dark Lord is quite pleased that he managed to force you into the contest."

Harry shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "If I do well, he will be very angry, won´t he? He will hurt Mother and Father."

Uncle Severus hesitated for a bit before he answered the statement. "I won´t lie to you. He tends to punish people if anything goes wrong, but there are people directly in charge of your imminent death in the tournament. Probably they will take the blame."

"Who?" Harry asked softly.

Uncle Severus didn´t answer that question.

-x-

By the time the first task was to be faced, Harry was determined not to do well. He was not going to jeopardize his parents or Uncle Severus´s safety. However, his determination wavered when he heard a dragon roar a small distance away from the tent in which the four contestants had to await their turn.

Mr. Crouch, the three headmasters and a small crowd of ministry officials were there to witness the drawing of the dragons. Harry drew a small model of a Hungarian Horntail – his rotten luck – from a velvet bag. So the youngest had to face the most vicious beast in the contest.

Rita Skeeter, a blonde reporter, was close to tears when Mr. Crouch announced who had drawn which. She hurried to Harry´s side, her acid green quick quotes quill hovering over her shoulder.

"Mr. Potter," she said, flashing her teeth, "how do you feel about the task ahead of you?"

"Well, Miss Skeeter," Harry smiled back like Father had taught him to, "I guess you and any of your reader will understand if I say I´m a bit nervous."

"A bit nervous? Isn´t that an understatement?"

Harry beamed back. "Actually I´m scared as I´m sure everybody would be in my situation, but I think it´s a good kind of fear. I will need the rush of adrenaline it causes once I´m out there. If you´ll excuse me now, I have to concentrate on the task ahead, but will gladly talk to you again when it is over."

The promise of a later interview mollified the reporter and she left the tent without further ado to get a move by move account of the task for her readers.

Waiting was hell. Neither Draco, nor Sirius or Remus (Harry found it astonishing how easy it was to think about the men on first-name basis when death breathed down his neck) were allowed into the tent to keep him company for fear they would help him decide on his course of action now the nature of the task had been revealed.

At last it was Harry´s turn. He wasn´t sure how his fellow contestants had done, but was fairly sure he saw the school nurse bustle about in a corner when he went out to the small stadion that had been errected by the Forbidden Forest for the occasion.

The Hungarian Horntail was huge. No. There was no way he could risk letting this beast hurt him. It wouldn´t know where to stop. And despite his worry for his parents and uncle, Harry was not suicidal. Unfortunately the dragon was not only too huge to allow him to injure Harry, but also to be affected by any spell Harry had learned in order to face it.

Sirius´s ashen face – as Harry´s guardian he had been granted a seat of honour in the first row – told clearly that the man saw the situation equally. The wizard had his wand at the ready to interfere if necessary, which Harry found endearing in a strange way. Remus sat by his side, muttering to him all the time. Harry asumed he was trying to talk his old friend out of doing something stupid.

A loud roar brought Harry back to the task at hand. He couldn´t win over this beast with magic. Outwitting it would not help either, for how do you outwit a creature with no wits at all. This dragon only knew brute force.

That left outrunning it, but Harry´s feet fealt like lead. The boy smiled when inspiration hit. He was a wizard. Why would he run on foot? He raised his wand and cried a spell.

Those in the crowd who were close enough to understand gasped and then passed the message on. There was a constant murmur in the stadium.

Harry´s broomstick arrived by the time the last person in the audience had heard which spell he had cast. Harry was confident it had been a good idea, for Sirius had gained some colour after he had heard him.

Less than an hour later, Harry knew it had been the best idea presented that day. He was not only the person to get the golden egg he was supposed to get fastest, but also the only one to do so completely unhurt. The crowd was enthusiastic and Harry enjoyed the racket, but only until he saw Uncle Severus.

The man looked even paler than usual. Harry wriggled free of Sirius, who had been clinging to him as if he planned to never let go again.

"I´m sorry," Harry whispered to Uncle Severus when he had managed to follow the man away from the crowd. "I was planning to let it injure me to keep him satisfied, but I couldn´t. I just couldn´t."

"Of course you couldn´t," Uncle Severus wrapped an arm around Harry´s shoulder. "Nobody wanted you to. Harry, your parents and I love you. All that we wish for is for you and Draco to be safe. Never think about getting hurt on purpose! Whatever we have to endure, we´ll gladly do it as long as we know you two are safe. Never take that from us."

Harry blushed. "I promise," he said earnestly. "To try my best."

"I expected no different of you. Now go back before they miss you." Uncle Severus continued up the path to the castle and Harry returned to his godfather and Draco.

-x-

A crowd of Gryffindors and Draco were waiting for Harry as he returned to the stadium. Sirius Black and Remus Lupin were with them. The situation was somewhat surreal for Harry. Here were Draco and Ronald Weasley telling him in unison that Gryffindor house was throwing a party in the Common Room as soon as Harry managed to get away from the ministry people and the press. And some hundred metres away, Uncle Severus was walking to what could well be his doom.

"Well done, Harry," the calm voice of the headmaster sounded from behind the boy hero. The old wizard lay his hand on Harry´s shoulder and handed him the golden egg he had conquered from the dragon. "It was announced that it holds the key to the second task while you went after Severus. – He will be okay." The last was said so softly, Harry was sure he had been the only one to hear it.

How could Dumbledore say that? One look into Uncle Severus´s face must have told the old man that the potions master himself didn´t believe he was going to be okay! Was the old wizard lying to Harry on purpose? But Harry was a Slytherin! He wouldn´t be fooled that easily!

With a sigh Harry turned to Draco. Side by side the brothers went up to Gryffindor Tower. Black and Lupin followed suit, like guards after a celebrity. Once they had reached the tower, the two men didn´t follow and Harry led the way to a quiet corner of the Common Room.

"That was amazing, Harry," Draco whispered. "But you are worried, aren´t you."

Harry nodded, glad that he didn´t need to explain how he felt to his brother. "He´s going to hold Uncle Severus responsible that I wasn´t killed."

"He won´t be pleased." Draco paled. "Do you think he´ll kill Uncle Severus?"

Harry thought about it. "Probably not," he said after a little while. "He needs the information Uncle Severus provides. But that won´t stop him from hurting him."

"We should check on him when he´s back."

"What are you two conspiring about?" Ronald Weasley joined the brothers. "Come on! We have butterbeer and biscuits! Let´s party!"

The Gryffindors were enthusiastic about Harry´s success. One of their own – they conveniently forgot Harry having been sorted into Slytherin ever – had won the first task! The whole wizarding world had to acknowledge that the house of Godric Gryffindor was best!

One of the older boys brought a bottle of firewhiskey and the younger years donated their supply of sweets for the occasion. Somebody turned on a wizarding wireless and the story of how Harry had won over the dragon was even on the radio! The station played some jolly music, which later changed to dance music to "give people the right sound for a celebration".

Soon the Gryffindor Common Room was full of dipsy students and dancing couples. Ronald Weasley surprised them all by asking Granger to dance and kissing her in the middle of a slow waltz. Granger, however, surprised them even more by kissing back. Draco glared at the snogging couple angrily. Harry made a mental note to ask him later what that was about.

Dobby brought a healthy meal for the Malfoy brothers shortly before bedtime, which the boys gladly accepted. Harry had had one butterbeer, but he didn´t like the taste very much. At least clutching the bottle had excused him from having any of the firewhiskey and the chocolate.

Once everybody was in bed – it was well after midnight – Harry and Draco crept down to the dungeons hidden under the invisibility cloak. Uncle Severus´s quarters were empty. The boys waited for half an hour before they tiptoed back to their beds. Usually Uncle Severus didn´t stay away for meetings that long.

That night, neither of the Malfoy boys slept.

-x-

Harry and Draco´s worries grew even worse when a smallish, obese wizard entered the dungeons instead of Uncle Severus for their next potions lesson.

"Good morning, class," the man greeted the students merrily as if Uncle Severus missing was no reason to worry. "My name is Horace Slughorn and I will fill in for Professor Snape until he sees himself fit to resume teaching you. Today we will be brewing pepper-up potion. I know, I know, you have covered this already, but I need to see what I can expect of you."

Harry and Draco looked at each other in disbelief. They had been able to brew pepper-up potion for years! This man was wasting their educational time! What was more, if the headmaster felt he needed a fill in teacher, that certainly meant that there was a major problem with Uncle Severus!

Resigned, the boys went for their ingredients. Once everybody had what they needed and was settled back down, the professor started to read out their names from a roll of parchment. Some names he barely acknowledged, such as Weasley or Granger, and over others he enthused for minutes, such as Malfoy ("Money," muttered Draco under his breath) or Potter ("boy who lived").

Of course Harry and Draco both produced a perfect potion and they were both disappointed when the professor just vanished their brews after having marked them. Uncle Severus would never have wasted a good potion like that. He would have had them fill the brew into bottles and bring it to the hospital wing.

A good part of the student body was in an uproar over the new teacher at lunch, but the Malfoy boys were more worried about finding out about the missing one. When nobody knew anything – anything! – at lunch, Harry decided to take advantage of his position with the headmaster and ask. Dumbledore looked at the boy sadly and invited him to join him in his office after his last lesson of the day.

Never before had History of Magic been so boring! The minutes crept by, slower than ever. When finally Professor Binns glid back into the blackboard, Harry snatched up his things and ran, Draco on his heel.

"Where is he?" Harry panted without preamble or even greeting as soon as they had burst into the headmaster´s office.

"Please, do calm down," the old wizard smiled feebly, his eyes missing their usual twinkle. "Severus is well, considering the circumstances. He is at the hospital wing, in a private room. He returned from Malfoy Manor in the early morning hours."

"The hospital wing?" gasped Harry. "Is he hurt?"

"He is," sighed Dumbledore. "Nothing we can´t heal, though. However, he is in pain and the healing will take time. Therefore Severus will not be able to teach you in the near future. Luckily Professor Slughorn was ready to take over for as long as it is needed."

Harry slumped in his seat. "That´s all my fault." The boy didn´t even dare ask what Lord Voldemort had done to Mother and Father. Dumbledore seemed to read his mind (which wouldn´t have been surprising, given Harry´s poor occlumency skills) and hurried to reassure both boys that their parents were well.

"Harry," the headmaster ended his little speech, "never think that anything of all this is your fault. It´s entirely Lord Voldemort´s, nobody else´s. Your parents, the biological as well as the foster, and your Uncle Severus, chose their position in this fight even before you were born. You are being pulled into a fight that isn´t yours. All you can do is try and survive. There are many among us who consider this their dearest wish." The old wizard smiled.

Harry nodded. "Can we see Uncle Severus?" he then asked and Draco agreed. "Please," asked the blond, "we could ask him about Mother and Father. And it would be good to see he´s alright."

Dumbledore shook his head. "Not at the moment being, I´m afraid. But I promise to ask him once he wakes up."

Harry closed his eyes. What had that monster done to the potions master?

"Now run along, boys," continued the headmaster. "You can´t have had dinner yet and I hear the house elves outdid themselves with today´s meatloaf."


	14. Chapter 14

Harry and Draco weren´t allowed to see their uncle and only connection to their parents for a whole week. The potions master lay in a bed in a small room in the hospital wing. Neither boy had ever realised the room existed, but on second thought it made sense to have a room where a patient could either be sheltered from the rest of the school or be kept away for safety reasons.

The man was so pale, his skin´s colour was barely different from the sheets. Harry didn´t dare imagine what he had looked like a week ago.

"I´m sorry," whispered the boy.

Uncle Severus smiled weakly. "Don´t be, Harry. You did me proud with your performance."

"But you were punished for it!" protested the boy.

"If it hadn´t been for your excellent way of dealing with the task, he´d have found a different reason to punish me. He´s not exactly mollycoddling his followers."

Draco´s eyes widened with fear and Uncle Severus hastened to add "unless they are Malfoys and provide a place to live."

"So Mother and Father are save?" Harry asked, equally worried as the blond.

"For the time being," Uncle Severus confirmed. "This Dark Lord we´re facing is very different from the one Harry vanquished these many years ago. He´s younger. A teenager. And although all the evil is there, he´s in some aspects a child. Your parents took him in when he had no home and nowhere to turn to. He´s grateful for that."

"But he hurt them," Draco pointed out.

"That he did, but never as badly as his other followers. They may not be safe from pain, but I don´t think he´d go as far as killing them."

Harry wasn´t sure he should be afraid for the Malfoys or be glad. Was it good to have a monster grateful to you? Well, at least they wouldn´t die.

Once Uncle Severus had recovered enough to be back at work, the Order of the Phoenix held another meeting in Dumbledore´s office.

"Welcome," the old wizard greeted Harry and those who were supposed to help him through the tasks of the tournament. "Now that we´re complete again," he hinted a bow to his potions instructor, "we shall have a look at Harry´s second task and see how we can help him. Harry, if you please."

Harry put the golden egg he had stolen from the dragon on the table and opened it.

A screetching noise filled the office and had the wizards present cover their ears.

"What was that?" Sirius Black worded the question everybody was thinking about.

"That," smiled the headmaster, "was Mermish."

"The language of the lake people? How can they communicate with sounds like that? Who would want to listen to that racket?" Black complained.

"It sounds a lot better under water," smiled Dumbledore. He raised his wand and conjured a glass blowl of water. "Harry."

Harry obeyed and put the egg in the water. The moment the liquid closed over the egg the screetching turned into the sweetest of songs.

_Come and seek us where our voices sound. _

_We cannot sing above the ground. _

_And while you're searching, ponder this: _

_We've taken what you'll sorely miss. _

_An hour long you'll have to look, _

_And to recover what we took. _

_But past an hour - the prospect's black. _

_Too late, it's gone, it won't come back._

"Do you have any possessions in the waters of the Black Lake?" Sirius looked at Harry questioningly. "Otherwise I see no way the merpeople can steal from you as they´re not magical."

Uncle Severus sneered. "I guess they will have their accomplices, Black."

The other wizard blushed and made a move as if to attack the potions master, but Remus Lupin calmed him with his hand gently placed on Sirius´s shoulder.

"Now, let´s not quarrel, but think how Harry can get his possession back from the lake," the man suggested and everybody agreed.

"A bubble-head charm," suggested Black. Dumbledore nodded in agreement. "I thought about this one as well."

The next few minutes were spent with Harry listening to his godfather explain the incantation and wand movement. Then the boy tried the charm out. It worked at first attempt and everybody cheered. That was, everybody but Uncle Severus.

The potions master poked Harry in the back. Harry turned to face the attacker and in the course lost his concentration. The bubble burst.

"I´d rather not risk Harry lose the bubble in the middle of the lake," explained the dark clad wizard. "I had difficulties with maintaining the bubble when I was younger. It takes a lot of concentration to keep the bubble in place."

Black made a face. "The trip to the lake won´t possibly be easy. There will be obstacles I guess."

Dumbledore nodded. "There are all kinds of creatures in the lake. Grindylows, water dragons, fish of prey. The merpeople have taken measures to keep the squid from their village."

"They want Harry to get past things that will keep a giant squid off?" cried Sirius. "He´s a bloody child!"

"Don´t forget that this contest wasn´t planned for children. Harry was pushed into it because there are obstacles he´s not supposed to be able to cope with." Uncle Severus spoke in a calming voice.

"You know what, Snape? For my taste you´re enjoying this a little too much, deatheater!" Sirius spat at the potions master. His voice grew louder with every word and the last were shouted at the top of his lungs.

Uncle Severus replied calmly in a tone that Harry had learned to recognize as a sign of imminent danger. "I love the boy as much as you do, Black. Probably even more, for I didn´t go and get myself sent to Azkaban instead of fulfilling my duty."

Hadn´t it been for Remus Lupin again, Sirius would have physically attacked Uncle Severus. As it was, the wizard struggled against his friend´s hold with all his might while he launched verbal attacks at the potions master. "I didn´t stand by watching him kill my friends! I was out for revenge! I owed it to James and Lily! We all owed it to James and Lily!"

"James and Lily had made it very clear what they considered your duty in the worst case!" Uncle Severus replied, infuriating Black further with his calm tone. "Do you really think the case wouldn´t have been investigated thoroughly? All you were supposed to do was go there, get Harry and let others do the dirty work while you rocked the baby to sleep. All Lily ever expected of you was to control your temper just once. And you failed her!"

Lupin finally lost his hold of his friend. With a roar like a wounded animal Sirius hawked at his opponent.

"Do something!" cried Lupin. He drew his wand, but didn´t dare shoot a spell at the two wizards.

"Stop it!" cried Dumbledore. "This behaviour is disgusting!"

The fight, Harry could tell and a glance at Draco confirmed that the blond agreed, wasn´t going to last long. Uncle Severus was already gaining the upper hand. Harry was expecting his beloved uncle to deliver the final blow when it happened. Suddenly the potions master was not facing a wizard, but had his arm full of dog. A growling, snapping dog, which was easily the biggest canine Harry had ever seen.

Uncle Severus yelped when he was bitten. "Coward!" he screeched, enraged.

Seemingly the headmaster thought a fight wizard/dog was too dangerous. He finally drew his wand and stupefied them both.

Harry and Draco were at Uncle Severus´s side in an instant. Harry patted the potions master´s cheeks while the blond examined the bites the man had received. Without giving it a second thought, Draco drew his wand and started muttering a healing charm under his breath. Father had taught them a lot of useful spells, and if healing wasn´t considered useful, then what was?

The assembled adults watched the blond in awe. Slowly, but steadyly the wounds on Uncle Severus´s arm closed. Once Draco was content with the state of the arm, he muttered another spell and the sleeve of the black robes Uncle Severus loved so much repaired itself.

"Wow," Remus Lupin whispered to the headmaster, "why haven´t you ever thought of hiring Lucius Malfoy as a teacher? Half of our seventh years wouldn´t have been able to do that!"

Dumbledore stroked his white beard, deep in thought. Indeed, why hadn´t he ever hired Lucius Malfoy?

Once Uncle Severus was well again, Draco used an Enervate charm, but not before giving his brother a warning glance. Harry retreated from the potions master, for one thing he knew for sure, Uncle Severus wouldn´t like to wake up and be patted publicly, no matter how much he loved Harry.

"Flea-infested mutt!" snarled the potions master at the still unconscious dog. "I told you decades ago he was evil, headmaster. What more evidence do you need? He tried to rip my throat!"

"You provoked him!" Remus Lupin defended his friend. He had sunken on his knees while Draco had worked on the potions master and was now scratching the dog´s ears.

"Well, surprise, surprise. The werewolf defends the mutt."

There were several gasps. "Severus!" cried the headmaster.

The potions master smirked. "Oops! Sorry!" he mock-covered his mouth with the fingers of his right hand.

Harry gaped at his unconscious godfather, who was – obviously – an animagus and the man´s friend, who seemed to be a werewolf, if Harry interpreted Uncle Severus´s slip of tongue (haha) and the other men´s reaction properly. Well, as long as Lupin took the Wolfsbane potion – they wouldn´t let him teach if he didn´t, would they? – that wouldn´t present too much of a problem.

"Why don´t we return to the problem at hand?" asked the headmaster in a rather clumsy attempt to change topic. "How will Harry breathe under water?"

"He could transform into a fish," suggested Lupin. "A big fish, to be on the safe side."

Uncle Severus laughed, but there was no humour in the sound. "Of course you tend to forget, Lupin," he then snarled. "but transformation doesn´t come naturally to the average wizard."

"Who do you call average?" growled Sirius Black, who had woken and resumed human form just seconds before.

"Certainly not you," the potions master snarled back. "You are clearly below average."

For the third (?, Harry had lost count) time Black hawked at the black clad wizard. This time Uncle Severus was prepared and shot a spell at his attacker.

"What?" Black fingered his mouth nervously.

Harry could barely keep himself from laughing. Draco was not as polite. He first snickered and then roared with laughter.

"Those ears fit you, cousin Sirius!" he panted between fits of giggles.

Black paled. "Ears?" he looked at his friend Lupin for confirmation.

"Ears." The other man barely managed to remain serious.

Black felt his hair and, when he found them, his new ears. "A mirror!" he roared then.

"Are you a wizard or what?" Snape added fuel to the flame.

Sirius blushed and conjured a mirror. With another roar he lunged at the potions master as soon as he had seen his new bunny ears and teeth. Uncle Severus sidestepped him like a torero the bull and the animagus collided with one of the headmaster´s book shelves with a deafening crash.

Sirius Black shook his head and scrambled up in a kneeling position. One of his new ears hung at an unnatural angle, but he either didn´t notice or he didn´t care. "That´s it, Snape," he hissed through gritted teeth. "I´m going to kill you."

"I´d like to see you try," sneered the potions master.

Harry looked at the headmaster nervously. But neither the old man nor Remus Lupin seemed willing to get caught in the middle of a fight that wasn´t theirs.

Sirius ran at Uncle Severus head first and rammed man. The potions master covered his stomach protectively, but too late. His face was a grimace of pain.

"Stop being childish," Draco stepped between the two fighting cocks. "We´re here to work out how Harry should proceed. You remember him? The boy who needs to breathe under water?"

Harry grinned at Draco. Only his brother had the ability to put Gryffindor foolhardiness and Slytherin arrogance into such a short speech. The blond winked.

"I´m sorry," muttered Black and stood beside Lupin, who pointed his wand at him and shrank his ears and teeth to their natural size.

Uncle Severus smirked at the other man, but said nothing.

"Any more ideas?" asked Dumbledore.

Everybody kept silent for several minutes, deep in thought, before Uncle Severus spoke up. "Gillyweed," he suggested. "It´s a rare herb, which will cause him to grow gills. That way he doesn´t need to concentrate to uphold a spell."

"Isn´t Gillyweed very difficult to handle? Can you work out the right dosage?" Lupin looked at the other wizard doubtfully.

Uncle Severus sneered. "Excuse me, but I´m a potions master." He glared at the Defense teacher angrily, ready for another fight if need be.

This time the headmaster interfered. "And an excellent one. We´re all aware of that, Severus. If nobody else wants to make a suggestion, I will ask you to prepare the right dose of Gillyweed for Harry."

-x-

Harry was glad they had decided on a way of action so early. This way he could concentrate on his studies until the second task rolled around. He had started two new subjects after all and needed all the study time he could get. Luckily Draco was a good student and more than happy to help Harry where he needed it.

Life had gotten a bit easier in Gryffindor for the two boys after the first task. Most Gryffindors admired courage when they saw it and felt that some of Harry's glory was falling to the house he currently lived with.

That way week after week passed, interrupted only by duelling lessons for Harry and occasional meetings with Uncle Severus during which the potions master passed on messages from Father and Mother.

The Malfoys reassured Harry – as well as Draco – repeatedly that they were very proud of him and sorry he had to deal with the situation without their help.

While life at Hogwarts was very agreeable, it became worse and worse outside of it. The Daily Prophet was full of articles about disappearances. From time to time they mentioned a body had been found, but generally the Dark Lord preferred to leave people in the dark about the fate of their loved ones.

"You know," Harry sighed to Draco after they had read that the older sister of the Patil twins had disappeared, "sometimes I can´t believe how quickly he turned evil. Just think of it! When he returned he was just a sixteen year old boy! How evil can a sixteen year old be? And now look at the newspaper! He must go after people at a daily basis!"

Draco agreed. "It´s scary! I just hope Mother and Father are okay." The fact that the evil man was living at their home did nothing for the Malfoy boys´ peace of mind.

As October moved along and changed first into November and later December, the mood in the castle started to change. It was strange, and if Harry had been asked to describe it, he´d have said it was a mixture between merry anticipation and fearful expectation. Had he been a muggle, he´d have said it resembled the mood people got into when they went to the dentist, but as he had only used magical toothpaste in his life, the boy wizard was entirely oblivious to the similarity.

There was a strange mixture of merry anticipation and fear. Whether it was fear of leaving the safety of the castle or fear of what may await them at home, Harry couldn´t tell. But the happy spirit that had taken hold of the castle before Christmas in previous years was not there.

Draco became especially subdued as Christmas approached. Harry tried his best to reassure his brother, but it was easier said than done. As a result, Harry himself felt worse and worse.

"I´m sorry." Harry sighed as he sat beside the blond, who had been staring into the flames of the Gryffindor Common Room fireplace.

"Sorry?" Draco didn´t look up from the fire. "Whatever for."

"That you can´t go home because of me."

"That´s not your fault." Draco looked up at last. "It´s His fault, nobody else´s. Please, don´t think that I blame you." He sighed. "I´m sure you miss them as much as I do."

Harry nodded. "So much," he sighed.

The boys´ brooding was interrupted by Sirius Black who climbed in through the portrait hole.

"Hello, boys," he greeted merrily. "Are you ready to do your shopping?"

"Shopping?" Harry and Draco echoed.

The animagus – Harry found that so cool! – smiled. "You didn´t think I wasn´t going to help you get some Christmas presents? Snape will take to your parents what you decide to get them."

"Uncle Severus?" Harry asked in disbelief. Had Sirius Black just offered to work with Uncle Severus in order to bring the boys´ gifts to Mother and Father? The headmaster must have his hands in it.

Black made a face. "I do admit that I´m not enthusiastic about it, but I also admit that Albus has a point. You two probably want to send your parents a little something. So, do you want to go shopping or not?"

He didn´t have to ask twice. Harry and Draco rushed up to their dormitory to get their cloaks and money.

"Ready?" asked Black when they returned.

"Ready!" agreed the boys, and Harry added "Where will we go to?"

"I was thinking of Diagon Alley." Black led the way down the stairs to the Entrance Hall.

The boys exchanged a quick glance. Diagon Alley was good. There were plenty of shops which sold little trinkets. There was no way any of the boys could afford to buy more. A quick but thorough search of their belongings had produced a total of only 4 sickles and 3 knuts.

The boys followed Black happily down the path to the gates. The man stopped just inside the gates and looked at them solemnly.

"Listen," he said, "you must be aware that this little outing could be dangerous. Don´t forget that Voldemort is after Harry. At this very moment he is plotting how to kill him in the course of the tournament. Many of his followers won´t hesitate to act if they recognize you." He laid his hand on Harry´s shoulder heavily. "Therefore I must insist you stay with me at all time. Please understand I don´t demand this to spoil your fun but for your protection."

"We will stay with you," Harry promised and Draco nodded. Their parents wanted them to be safe at Hogwarts.

Black nodded, satisfied with the promise. "You both have my permission to use magic if you need it to defend yourselves or prevent yourselves from being moved away from me."

"Won´t we get into trouble for it?" asked Draco.

"The Ministry will ask questions, but I´d rather face an inquiry than lose you." The man looked at both boys with a lopsided smile. "As we are talking, we can do this now." The wizard rummaged in his pocket and handed Harry a small purse. "Here. You need money to shop."

Harry stared at the man in disbelief. He had never given him much reason to like his godson, hadn´t made a secret out of the fact that he´d rather be with Mother and Father than the man his biological parents had chosen to raise him. Nevertheless Black gave him what must be twenty galleons judging by the weight of the purse!

Harry´s surprise couldn´t have been bigger when Black reached into his pocket again and handed Draco a similar purse. The boy´s surprise must have shown on his face, because the man grinned and ruffled his hair. "Do you really think I wasn´t aware you´d share with him anyway?"

The boys thanked Black profusely. The man grinned again and then ushered them out of the gates. "You have travelled by portkey, haven´t you?" The boys nodded both and grabbed the sock Black was holding out. Judging by the colour of it (orange with bright green polka dots) it must belong to Dumbledore.

Diagon Alley was emptier than the boys had ever seen it so shortly before Christmas. There were only few shoppers and none of them looked like they were enjoying their shopping. They rather looked as if they were trying to get done with a chore quickly.

"Let´s not linger longer than necessary," advised Sirius Black. "Where do you want to go?"

The boys exchanged a quick glance. "Flourish and Blott´s," said Harry, "Madam Malkins and – if you don´t mind – Honeyduke´s."

Black nodded. "Sounds good to me. Let´s add the stationary store to the list. I don´t know about you, but I could do with more quills and ink."

The boys agreed that that was a good idea and off they went.

They went to Madam Malkins first. Harry and Draco chose a cashmere pullover for Mother. It cost the better part of Harry´s money, but he didn´t mind. Sirius Black bought a pair of the most gaudy socks the boy had ever seen. Harry´s assumption that their portkey had belonged to the headmaster was confirmed when Black compared the size of it to the socks he wanted to buy.

The bookstore was next.

"I´d like to get a book for Father," said Draco. "Father likes to read."

Harry agreed and the boys went to look at books about defensive spells. The topic seemed fitting as Father needed to keep himself and Mother safe. Black followed them at a short distance, but didn´t come too close to intrude the brothers´ privacy.

They were just going around a shelf, when Draco gasped. There, hidden from the rest of the shop by the shelves, stood Father! The blond wizard heard the little sound Draco had made and looked up from the book he was leafing through.

"Boys!" he beamed in a hushed voice and extended his arms in welcome. Neither Harry nor Draco needed any further invitation. They threw themselves at the man and snuggled into the welcoming embrace.

They had only a few seconds before their blissful reunion was disturbed by Black´s voice.

"Lucius," he drawled.

"Sirius," Lucius returned the greeting without letting go of the boys. He cast a spell which Harry recognized as a notice-me-not charm.

"Do you think it´s wise to come near the boys in public?" Sirius asked with a pointed look at Harry.

"It´s probably not," sighed Lucius, disentangling himself from the teenagers´ embrace. "But honestly, Sirius, could you stay away if you were me?"

"Certainly not," said the animagus. "Don´t misunderstand me. I don´t grudge you this little reunion. I´m only concerned about Harry´s safety." After a short pause he added "and Draco´s."

"I´m very grateful you took Draco under your wing when you didn´t have to," said Lucius.

"He´s my cousin." Sirius Black glared at the blond man. "We may not like each other, but we´re family."

The blond wizard nodded in acknowledgement. "I will compensate any costs the boys cause you once I´m able to."

"He doesn´t let you spend your money?" Sirius gasped.

Lucius shook his head. "It´s not like that. I can´t give you money right now because under no circumstances can he know that I met you three. He´d expect me to bring at least Draco home. I´m his father. If I insisted you couldn´t deny me my son."

"But you won´t insist."

"I´d rather kill myself."

Lucius turned to the boys. "I can´t stay. Any second I linger means danger for you. I want you to know that your mother and I love you, even when we can´t be together. Be good and obey cousin Sirius. He will protect you." He and the animagus exchanged a glance. Sirius nodded, a silent promise to protect the two boys. After a last hug Lucius lifted the notice-me-not spell and left the bookstore.

After some moments of silence Harry and Draco turned to the shelves and started to search for a book to give father. They finally settled on a tome called ´Advanced spells for the safe wizarding home´. Sirius leafed through it and declared it useful.

After having paid for Mother and Father´s presents, the boys had only some galleons left. They spent them for parchment, quills and ink. When Sirius wanted to lead the way to Honeydukes next, Harry stopped him. "No need to go," he said with a hint of sadness. "We don´t have any money left."

Sirius grinned. "But I have."

About an hour later the boys returned to Hogwarts with their pockets full of sweets (part of which they planned to use as Christmas presents for their friends and fellow Gryffindors) and bags full of purchases. Sirius took them to his office where he helped them wrap the book and pullover.

In the evening, the boys sneaked down to the dungeons – with Sirius´s permission – and asked Uncle Severus to take the presents to Mother and Father.

Although they had managed to have their presents brought to their parents, the boys thought that this was the saddest Christmas ever. Both, Harry and Draco, longed to be at home and have biscuits and tea served by Dobby while they listened to Father and Mother telling stories about past Malfoy Christmases. Their favourite was the tale how Father had invited the Black family on his first Christmas as the head of the house of Malfoy. His father had passed away only some weeks before. Others would have moped the whole season, but the young Lord Malfoy had dutifully watched out for a pureblood witch to help him continue the Malfoy line. As soon as he had caught a glimpse of Narcissa Black, he had known that he had found his Lady. All he had to do was convince her father that he, Lucius Malfoy, was not too young and inexperienced to lead the house towards a prosperous future.

This year, however, there were no funny stories how Narcissa Black had pretended to fall down the marble staircase to see whether their young host was going to save her – which he did when the pretence got out of control. The only reminder of home was Dobby serving biscuits. The small elf, who had been Harry´s protector ever since he had to be removed from the Malfoys´ direct influence, was thrilled to spoil the boys. He spent hours in the kitchen, preparing their favourite treats, but it didn´t really make them happy.

Harry and Draco were not Sirius´s only house guests for the winter break. Dumbledore had sent the Weasley boys with them, hoping the boys would get better acquainted with some of their fellow Gryffindors and eventually form bonds of true friendship. As Sirius was not capable of looking after a bunch of teenage boys – or at least the headmaster seemed to think that – Remus Lupin and the Weasley parents were there as well.

Although the house was full of people, Harry and Draco stayed mostly in their room. Most of the time Sirius let them. He only insisted they come downstairs on Christmas Day to get their presents.

Harry got plenty of sweets from his friends, books and new robes from Mother and Father, a broomstick servicing kit from Draco (Sirius must have paid for it) and lots of clothes and a make-your-own-map kit from his godfather.

January passed fairly eventless. Harry and Draco spent three weeks exploring the map making kit, but when Sirius mentioned that Harry´s biological father had had one, Harry lost interest.


	15. Chapter 15

All too soon February and the second task of the Triwizard Tournament rolled around.

Harry knew that he was well prepared – the best wizards had made up a plan for him – but nevertheless he was nervous. What were the merpeople going to steal from him? The boy had been quite spoiled by his foster parents, but ever since he had been cut from them, he had found out what it meant to lack something. He couldn´t just walk up to Sirius Black and ask for things every day, could he? Harry just hoped it wasn´t going to be something he needed for his education.

The big day began with a bad surprise. If there had ever been a time when Harry wanted Draco by his side, it was the morning of the second task, but Draco was nowhere to be found.

"McGonagall sent for him," Ronald informed Harry when he realised the boy was looking for his brother. "Your parents are okay, she said," the redhead added when Harry was about to set out for the witch´s office, panic gripping his heart. "I´m sure Draco will tell you what she wanted," Ronald smiled. "It´s an important day, you shouldn´t miss breakfast."

Harry agreed with that on a rational basis, but nevertheless he barely managed half a cup of tea and two bites of toast. Ronald continued to talk to him, and Granger chimed in from time to time. Both tried to sound reassuring and encouraging and Harry really appreciated their effort. He´d have prefered Draco nevertheless.

On his way down to the lake, Harry kept craning his neck for the blond, but Draco was nowhere to be seen. A big group of Gryffindors, Ronald and Granger by his sides, escorted Harry. The contestants were to meet in a tent by the shore. Before Harry entered, Sirius Black pulled him into a hug.

"I wish you good luck, Harry," muttered his godfather into the boy´s ear. "Take good care." Harry started when he felt Sirius put something slimy into his hand. "Severus says to swallow it as soon as they command you into the water and then wait one minute before you dive."

Harry nodded to show he had understood and then, after a last searching look, entered the tent. The other champions were already there. Cedric Diggory muttered spells under his breath. Victor Krum made swimming moves with his arms. Harry shuddered at the sight of well-trained muscles. Krum must be an accomplished swimmer! Fleur Delacour looked the most anxious of the three older students. Harry could understand her. She looked fragile beside the two boys, both nearly grown men. The pale blue of her swimsuit made her look even younger and smaller. For a moment, Harry could even believe she was smaller than he was, but of course that wasn´t true. And, he reminded himself, the young witch was in her last year of education. She certainly knew much more magic than he did.

The judges came to the tent and Mr. Crouch from the ministry explained the task once more, but Harry barely listened. The headmaster, Uncle Severus, Sirius, Mr. Lupin, they had gone over what he had to do so often, he didn´t need the ministry wizard´s explanation. Instead he wondered where Draco was. It wasn´t like the blond to not wish him luck.

When Mr. Crouch blew his whistle, Harry did as Sirius had told him. He swallowed the slimy herb he had been given. For a moment the boy thought he was going to throw up, but then the disgusting slime was down his throat. Krum, Cedric and Fleur went into the water right away, Cedric and Krum even at a run. Fleur splashed her body with the cold water first and retreated several steps when she realised just how cold it was.

Somebody laughed.

Harry paced on the shore until he was sure the minute was over and then stepped into the water. At the first touch, he thought he was going to suffocate. He felt he couldn´t breathe at all! Desperate, Harry grasped at his throat. He stumbled. Just great! He was not only going to suffocate, but to drown in ankle-high water!

No sooner had Harry splashed into the water that his agony was over! The water was cool, but not cold, and refreshing. Harry took a big breath. Hang on! He just had taken a breath of water! Then he remembered why Uncle Severus had suggested Gillyweed in the first place. It enabled Harry to breathe under water.

Harry didn´t care to get up in order to walk further into the lake. He slithered into the water like a big snake and once he had reached deeper water, he swam like an overgrown fish. Amazed, the boy took a short break to look at the webs between his fingers and toes and to feel his gills. In many aspects, Harry was a fish!

Once he had reached a certain depth of water, Harry drew his wand. He was well aware that different kinds of dangerous creatures lurked in the water of the lake. Luckily he only met a bunch of Grindylows before he caught a first glimpse of merpeople housings. Harry stopped and looked around. Where did the merpeople keep their prey?

As there hadn´t been any hints where exactly to look, Harry assumed that whatever had been taken from him was at the center of the mer-village. He tried to see where said center was, but the houses – or should he rather call them caves? – looked the same in all directions. At last Harry swam up to a young merwoman.

"Excuse me," he said politely. "Do you happen to know where I have to retrieve what your people took from me?"

The young woman, a smallish blonde with a vivid green fish-tail, smiled. "I don´t know about what we might have taken from you, but the elders have an important assembly today." She pointed down the path between the houses.

Harry decided to follow her directions. If the elders didn´t have what was his, he could at least ask them, and there wasn´t much the elders wouldn´t know, was there?

When the boy followed the path around a large rock and caught a first glimpse of the assembly, his blood froze. A crowd of merpeople had gathered around what looked like four stakes. Four people were bound to the stakes and one of them had unmistakable blond hair!

Draco´s head lay at a strange angle on his shoulder. His blond hair floated around him like an aureole. Harry just hoped that his brother was only asleep. With a roar of anger, Harry swam among the merpeople, pushing them aside. He used his wand to free Draco from his bonds and, without sparing the other three figures a glance, pushed the other boy towards the surface.

Once Draco´s head broke the surface, the blond woke and struggled for breath. Harry was overjoyed! Draco was safe!

"You found me!" cried the older Malfoy brother. "I knew you would come!" He struggled to stay above water, which turned out to be rather difficult seeing that he was dressed in his full school uniform, robes and all. Harry, who still had his gills, dove and positioned himself under Draco in a manner that he formed kind of a boat for Draco. That way, Harry under water, Draco above the surface, he brought them back to the shore. It took more than a quarter hour to reach the banks. A little before they had reached their goal, Harry felt a sting in his lungs and then he couldn´t breathe under water any longer and had to come up for air. But they were nearly there and the rest of the distance was no problem for either brother.

Sirius Black and Remus Lupin waded into the lake to help the boys out. Madam Pomfrey brought blankets and hot soup and the headmaster himself applied drying and warming spells to both boys. The Gryffindors cheered at Harry´s victory, but the boy couldn´t have cared less. He had nearly lost Draco! How dare they take his brother from him!

A little later, Cedric Diggory finished the task. He had saved a girl from Ravenclaw. Harry was fairly sure she was called Cho Chang. Victor Krum saved an other boy from Durmstrang. Their fellow students wolfwhistled and both boys blushed, but the whistles stopped after a death-glare from their headmaster.

Fleur Delacour had to give up. The girl was in panic when the hour the merpeople´s song had given them was over. She cried and lamented and sobbed and nothing her headmistress said to her could soothe her fear. Only when an old merwoman appeared near the shore and brought a small blond girl, she calmed down.

"Gabrielle!" she shouted and pushing everybody – including Albus Dumbledore who had gone to speak with the merwoman – aside she seized the small girl and dragged her out of the water. Her headmistress helped her and Madam Pomfrey bustled over to them with more blankets and soup.

The judges announced Harry shortly later winner of the second task, but Harry couldn´t have cared less. All that counted was that he had Draco back. Upon the release of the younger Delacour sister he had understood that Draco had never been in real danger, but the thought alone of losing him had shaken Harry to the core. That night, Harry and Draco shared a bed and Harry checked whether Draco was still there every half hour.

"You know," the blond complained in the morning, "next night we´ll both sleep in our own beds. First you nearly throttled me and then you hit me in the face every thirty minutes. I didn´t sleep at all!"

Harry mumbled an apology.

The blond nudged him with an elbow. "Let´s get some coffee, or I´ll fall asleep during lessons. And thank you that you came for me."

Harry smiled.

The second task – or the following night – was never mentioned again.

-x-

"I absolutely refuse to allow he partake in that task." Sirius Black´s tone was final.

Uncle Severus pinched the bridge of his nose. "Which part of ´binding magical contract´ do I need to explain to you, Black?"

Once again, Harry and his protectors were assembled at the headmaster´s office. Harry and Draco sat side by side on the sofa and watched the adults quarrel. The headmaster had just informed them that the third task involved a maze.

"I understood it the first time it was mentioned, thank you," spat the animagus. "But honestly, you say you care about Harry, how can you even think of letting him go into that maze? Heaven knows what the Ministry idiots will come up with! How are we supposed to prepare Harry if we don´t know what traps they will have in there?"

"You have to give Harry some credit," Uncle Severus said softlier than before. "Lucius taught the boys long before they came to Hogwarts. They had free access to the library. I, for one, am confident that Harry will be able to deal with whatever the Ministry throws at him."

"I know Harry is good, but that´s not the point. Harry is a boy. He deserves to be protected. At his age, he shouldn´t have to deal with anything. His only worry should be whether he gets enough Easter eggs and Quidditch!"

"None of us chose this path for him," said Uncle Severus. "There´s no point in complaining about what we can´t change."

Remus Lupin caughed softly to get the other men´s attention. "We shouldn´t waste time and energy on quarrelling. Even if we don´t know the details, there are some useful spells we can teach Harry."

The final task was scheduled for June. That meant Harry had nearly four months to learn as much as he could and exactly that he did. Draco was by his side all the time. It would have been unwise not to make use of the opportunity to learn.

The Gryffindors felt they had to help Harry, too. So whenever Harry wasn´t busy with his regular work or the spells he learned from Sirius and the other teachers, he was found in a quiet corner of the Common Room, discussing spells with Hermione Granger, Ronald and the Weasley twins. The spells the students suggested were simpler than what the teachers came up with, but Harry thought that they were equally useful. For example, Hermione had found one which enabled the caster to use his wand as a compass. In a maze, that made sense.

With his increased workload, Harry was glad when the Easter holidays rolled around. Many students went home to see their families and Hogwarts became more quiet. Sirius, who had noticed how tired Harry was, announced that his godson needed some time off and the other teachers agreed. Therefore the animagus, Mr. Lupin, Harry and Draco returned to Grimmauld Place for Easter.

Although Harry had never really liked the old house, he enjoyed the peaceful time there. For five wonderful days, he slept in in the mornings and spent the days playing with his brother. Kreacher spoiled the boys with cakes and biscuits, and all too soon it was time to return to Hogwarts.

Once back at school, time rushed by even faster and before Harry knew, he was standing at the entrance of a big maze, the whole school and several dozens of honorary guests waiting for the outcome of the Triwizard Tournament.

The rules were simple enough. The contestants were entitled to enter the maze according to the current standing of the competition, meaning that Harry was to go first due to his amazing performance in February. Somewhere in the maze the Cup was hidden. Whoever touched it first was the winner.

All four Champions were very nervous, and Fleur Delacour also a bit desperate. The girl had failed the second task and she needed a medium miracle to win. Cedric and Krum were not so far behind Harry. Both hoped they´d get a chance at the Cup if the much less experienced fourth year fell victim to one of the many traps in the maze.

The school orchestra – it had been established only for the occasion – played a merry piece of music while everybody waited for the Minister of Magic himself to signal the start of the task. When the man finally blew a whistle, the orchestra fell quiet and Harry entered the maze.

The bushes were nearly five metres high. The corridors they formed where dark as if it were night. First, Harry walked straight and then he turned right. In front of him he saw something sparkle. Cautiously, Harry stepped nearer. He smiled. African trap sand. Uncle Severus had discussed dangerous minerals with him in March. African trap sand lured the traveller closer with its sparkle, but meant certain death. Basically, it worked like quick sand, but the pull down was much stronger and there existed only one spell to free a wizard caught in it.

Harry conjured a bridge over the dangerous sand. Once he had passed it, he banished it. Firstly, he didn´t want to give away which path he had taken and secondly, a true Slytherin would never leave a bridge for his opponents.

The boy didn´t have much time to enjoy his victory for when he reached the next junction of paths he was nearly burnt by a fireball. Harry jumped back just in time. When he had managed to catch his breath, he carefully creeped forward to spy around the corner.

Those Ministry people could not be serious! There was a dragon lurking around the corner! Harry had never seen that particular species, but he was fairly sure that it was a Peruvian Pygmy Firedrake. The boy clutched his wand tightly. Nobody had thought the Ministry would come up with dragons again, therefore none of his mentors had given him advice what to do in case he encountered one.

All Harry needed to do, was get past that junction. He didn´t need to search the corridor the dragon was in, did he? For a brief moment he contemplated just jumping past the beast before it could breathe fire again, but that would be a Gryffindor thing to do and Harry was anything but a Gryffindor. With a sly smile he cast a notice me not spell on himself. After a last deep breath, Harry stretched his hand out and waved it in plain view of the small dragon. When it didn´t react, he smirked and walked past the beast.

For the next ten minutes, Harry roamed the maze, looking for the Cup, but there was no trace of it. Luckily he not only failed to find the prize, but also to encounter any more vicious beasts. From time to time the boy used Hermione Granger´s little compass spell to make sure he wasn´t walking in a circle.

Trying to find one´s way in a seemingly empty maze was a bit creepy. The lack of more traps was most disquieting. That was why Harry was almost glad when he heard a branch crack nearby. Carefully he tiptoed to the next junction and peeked around the corner. With a sigh of relief he recognized Cedric.

"Harry!" the boy said with equal relief. His face was scratched and he limped. "What a game, eh?"

"What happened to you?" Harry asked nervously.

"I ran into a bunch of hags and sprained my ankle trying to get away. With my foot hurt, I had trouble getting past the devil´s snare and the three-headed dog nearly got me, too. And those stinging hexes weren´t easy to dodge either." Cedric smiled weakly. "You had more luck?"

"I guess so," admitted Harry. At least he wasn´t injured, but obviously he had lost the head start he had had. "I just ran into a sand trap and a dragon."

Cedric looked around fearfully. "A dragon?"

"A small one," Harry hurried to add. Cedric honestly didn´t look like the idea of facing another dragon was agreeable with him.

"Well, let´s go on. The sooner we´re out of here the better." Both boys turned and headed in the same direction. They stopped and looked at each other. At last, Cedric shrugged. "Why not." They continued together.

They proceeded in silence. From time to time the boys glanced at each other suspiciously. When they reached a junction Cedric signalled Harry to take the left path, while he took the right. Harry nodded in agreement. Another nod was the signal to proceed. Both boys jumped out of the shelter of their corridor. Harry´s target corridor was empty, but Cedric´s not. Harry whirled around, alarmed by the other boy´s outcry of pain.

The sight he found was not pretty. A huge spider had knocked the Hufflepuff over. The older boy was struggling to prevent the spider from sinking its pincers into his flesh. After a moment of hesitation Harry cast his spell. The spider shrank back from its victim. Harry smirked. "Come on, Diggory!" No sooner had the Hufflepuff scrambled to his feet that the arachnid attacked anew.

"Run!" Harry didn´t wait for Cedric to run. He took off at top speed, but the sound of the other boy´s footstep reassured him that the Hufflepuff had managed to get away. Harry ran until he thought his lungs were going to burst.

Cedric stood beside him, equally panting. "Thank you, Potter." The older boy bent over, clutching his left arm against his body. "You saved my life."

"You´re welcome," Harry panted.

It took the two boys some time to recover their breath. When Harry finally looked up, he gasped. He could have slapped himself as soon as the small sound had left his lips. Cedric looked up, too, and repeated Harry´s gasp. There, merely meters away, it was! The Cup they had been looking for!

"Go for it, Harry," Cedric smiled weakly. Harry could see longing in the other boy´s eyes. Without much ado, Harry nodded and proceeded towards the Cup. If it hadn´t been for him, Cedric would have been eaten by the spider. And even if Cedric decided not to step back, Harry would outrun the limping boy easily. No, it was far better Cedric saved his breath and rested his hurt ankle.

The Cup stood on top of a pillar, just high enough that Harry had to stretch to get his sparkling prize.

The boy knew he had made a mistake the moment he touched the Cup. There was a tug behind his navel that he recognized as the feeling of a portkey. Crap! How could he have been so stupid! Harry´s last thought before the portkey whisked him away was that this was not the time to regret his actions. He should rather try to concentrate on where the portkey was taking him.

Harry had no time to regain his wits after the usual disorientation of portkeying. He was hit with a spell, he had never been hit with before. Harry thought every nerve ending in his body was on fire. Somebody screamed and it took him some time to realise it was him. Only when the caster lifted the spell Harry understood that it must have been Cruciatus which he had been hit with. The thought of somebody attacking him with an Unforgivable made his blood freeze.

As little time Harry had been given after having been portkeyed, as little he was given to recover from the curse. "We meet at last," a cold voice drawled. Strong hands seized the boy and pulled him up and back against something hard. Ropes wound around his body until, seconds later, Harry couldn´t move a single muscle.

Although he couldn´t even move his head, Harry tried to take in as much of his surroundings as possible. Always know what you´re working with, Father had taught him.

He was in a graveyard. The graves and tombs looked like they had been long abandoned by the descendants of the people buried here. The stones looked oldfashioned, like those in the Malfoy graveyard in the back corner of the Manor´s vast parks. The old gravestones were not the most scary sight though.

A circle of black hooded men stood around the grave Harry was bound to. They all wore white masks which made their eyes look like empty lifeless holes. In the center of the circle stood a handsome young man in long black robes, his wand in his elegant pale hand.

The young man smiled coldly and stepped closer to Harry. "Harry Potter, the boy who is said to have the power to vanquish me." He drew the tip of his index finger over Harry´s scar, along his brow and down his cheek to his chin. "Look me in the eye, little boy!" the Dark Lord – Harry just KNEW it was him – forced his prisoner´s chin up. "Well, today I will prove to the world that your praise was sung much too early. Your power," the dark wizard leaned closer to Harry and whispered into his ear, "is nothing next to mine! One word from me is enough to destroy you!"

With a devilish chuckle the young man stepped back. "Kill him!" he ordered. "Slowly!" With a lazy wave of his wand the Dark Lord conjured a thronelike chair and sat, crossing his legs.


	16. Chapter 16

One of the hooded men stepped forward at a sign from his master and pointed his wand at Harry. The boy´s eyes widened in fear. There was no time to brace himself against the attack. The curse came wordlessly. It was no Unforgivable, but it hurt like hell. Harry screamed. The attacker lifted his spell only when the Dark Lord clapped his hands lazily.

The break was short. One wizard stepped back and another forward. This one used a different spell from the first two. While the first two had caused Harry to hurt all over, this one´s spell affected only Harry´s left leg. Harry felt as if his knee was torn in two. This spell was held far longer than the first two.

It was only lifted when another hooded figure stepped into the circle. A strand of blond hair peeked out from under the hood. "My Lord," the figure started humbly.

"Oh no!" another man stepped into the circle. "You will not get your turn before me!" The man shouldered past his fellow deatheater. "My Lord, forgive me my cheek, but I know better than anybody else how much Lucius hates the boy! I fear he will con me out of my reward!"

The young man on his throne chuckled. "So eager, Severus. I haven´t forgotten that you brought me a warning all those years ago. Nobody shall take your reward from you. Lucius, step back. Severus will have his say first."

Harry closed his eyes. The world had started to spin within the past few seconds. Father and Uncle Severus were quarrelling who was allowed to torture him first!

The potions master raised his wand lazily. He shot a stinging hex at Harry. Although it was the most harmless spell used on the boy so far, it hurt much more than any of the others. Harry bit his bottom lip. He was not going to give the traitorous wizard the satisfaction to hear him scream.

"Trying to be brave, Potter?" the man drawled as he stalked closer. "Don´t even try. You are no Gryffindor like your filthy mother and father. See, all you´ll gain is that you hurt yourself." He stepped so close, Harry could feel the man´s breath on his face. The potions master slid his finger through the drop of blood Harry had drawn from his lip. The man lifted his mask and licked his finger clean with a smirk. "You will scream for me soon enough, Potter."

All of a sudden the potions master dropped his lazy attitude. He grabbed Harry´s robes and pressed the tip of his wand at the boy´s throat. "Ready to play?" he cried. The next thing Harry felt was the squeezing feeling of apparition.

Before Harry was able to find his balance, Uncle Severus had scooped him up and took off at a run. Harry tried to see where they were, but the potions master held him clutched to his chest rather violently.

After a run – a sprint! – of perhaps hundred meters, Uncle Severus put his bundle down and pulled the boy into a hug. "I have you, Harry, I have you," the man muttered into the boy´s hair. "You are safe."

Harry returned the hug and sobbed into the potions master´s robes. Uncle Severus had saved him! It had all been a fraud to get close enough to Harry and take him away from the graveyard. Maybe, a small spark of hope lit up in Harry´s chest, Father had planned to do the same!

-x-

On the way up to the headmaster´s office – where else than Hogwarts was Harry safe? – they met Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost.

"Sir Nicholas," Uncle Severus said with as much dignity as he could must with a teenager in his arms. "Please ask the headmaster to join me at his office immediately. It´s an emergency."

The ghost bowed and disappeared through the wall.

Uncle Severus muttered under his breath as he continued towards the office. Harry was too exhausted to catch every single word, but basically the potions master complained that he had forgotten to tell the ghost to bring along the school nurse. Harry´s leg was so badly injured that he was not able to walk.

The headmaster rushed into the office barely three minutes after the two Slytherins had reached it.

"Harry! Severus! What happened?"

"It was a trap!" Harry cried. "The Cup was a portkey."

The headmaster paled under his beard. "A portkey? Severus, why wasn´t I informed of that plan?"

"I didn´t know, headmaster," the potions master hung his head humbly. "I´d never have put Harry at risk had I known of this devilish plan!"

The next quarter hour Uncle Severus gave the headmaster a detailed account of what had happened at the graveyard.

"You blew your cover!" Dumbledore raged when the younger wizard reached the end of his tale. "How are we supposed to get information on his activities and plans?"

Uncle Severus jumped to his feet. "Should I have let them kill Harry?"

"Of course not! But you said it yourself. Lucius had already made his first move to save the boy himself!"

"Where would he have gone once he had Harry?" Uncle Severus shouted back. "The Dark Lord uses his house as headquarters! And how would he have notified Narcissa to flee? Voldemort would have killed all three before dawn."

Harry gasped. He hadn´t thought of that. Uncle Severus had not only saved him, Harry, but also Mother and Father! He moved to hug the man as a thank-you, but his injured leg didn´t carry his weight. Uncle Severus wasn´t quick enough to catch him and Harry fell to the floor with a thump.

"My boy!" cried the headmaster. "Are you hurt?"

"His leg," explained Uncle Severus. "McNair used a spell on his knee."

-x-

Madam Pomfrey glared at the headmaster disapprovingly. As far as the nurse was concerned most of the people crowding the hospital wing shouldn´t have been allowed there at all. They were all in the way while she bustled around Harry.

The boy sat on one of the hospital beds, Draco by his side. The headmaster and Uncle Severus stood on the right side of the bed, Sirius and Remus Lupin on the left and the Minister of Magic himself at the foot end.

"Why didn´t you warn us?" Sirius snarled over the bed. "Thought you´d look better that way for saving Harry, eh?"

Uncle Severus struggled against a surprisingly strong hold the headmaster was applying to his wandarm.

"For your information, Black," he spat back, "I risked my life. I know, of course, it´s nothing you are familiar with."

"Don´t try to be funny, Snape!"

"Sirius," Mr. Lupin interfered before the situation escalated, "I´m sure that had Severus known about the trap he would have told us." The man pulled the animagus into an embrace ignoring the other wizards rolling their eyes. "You have to calm down, love."

"Harry could have died!" Sirius muttered against Mr. Lupin´s chest.

"But he didn´t." The other man stroked the animagus´s hair.

When Sirius Black had regained his calm, he addressed the nurse. "What about Harry´s leg?"

"I did what I could," sighed the nurse. She sat on the edge of Harry´s bed and looked sadly at the boy. "It was a vicious curse he was hit with. I was able to heal him far enough to grant him painlessness in his knee, but he will limp for the rest of his life. I´m sorry, Mr. Potter. Your knee was damaged beyond repair."

"It´s not your fault," Harry said in a small voice. Limp for the rest of his life? He was only fourteen!

"I should have acted sooner," said Uncle Severus. The man sounded very unhappy. "It´s my fault, Harry."

"It´s not," cried Draco. "You saved Harry, Father and Mother by waiting. Had you tried to act sooner, he would have stopped you from touching Harry and apparating away with him!"

Harry nodded in agreement. A limp was a small price for his family´s lives.

"Now, now, boy," the minister joined the conversation. "The health of the Boy Who Lived has to be our top priority. We must not forget that he is the Wizarding World´s only hope! Far more important than a witch and a wizard; who, I might add, chose to fight for the dark side."

"Are you saying," huffed Harry, "that my parents should have died?"

"I´m saying that giving you to those people was a mistake. They made their own bed, now we should let them sleep in it and be glad that you are safe." The minister smiled benignly.

Harry and Draco had their wands out in an instant. The minister was hurled back against the opposite wall where he lay in a heap.

"Stop this immediately!" Albus Dumbledore cried. He motioned for Madam Pomfrey to look after the minister.

"Sorry," both boys mumbled, but they didn´t look sorry at all.

-x-

The adults present hurried to help the minister up. Sirius Black and Albus Dumbledore apologized to the man for Harry´s behaviour, pointing out that the boy must be very distraught by the events of the day. Uncle Severus described just how terrible the scene at the graveyard had been for the boy until at last the minister accepted the apology and left the hospital wing muttering under his breath.

All three men knew better than to try and tell off the boys for their behaviour. They left after Madam Pomfrey had reassured them that Harry would be looked after. Harry was exhausted. He told Draco what had happened in a low whisper, especially the part when Father had tried to intervene, but had been saved from falling from the evil wizard´s good grace by Uncle Severus.

The nurse let the boys speak for a while before she insisted Harry take a dose of Dreamless Sleep. Unlike his usual behaviour, the boy didn´t refuse the potion, but took it gratefully. Even Draco accepted some when offered. The blond, however, refused to retreat to a different bed.

-x-

Despite his dislike for Grimmauld Place, Harry was glad when Sirius Black offered to start the summer early and go home – as if the old house could ever be that! – the same day. He just didn´t feel like facing anybody.

Sirius seemed to understand, because he didn´t invite the Weasleys for the time being. The only company invited was Draco and Mr. Lupin. Personally, Harry would have preferred the man not to come, but denying his godfather the presence of his boyfriend seemed cruel, so Harry said nothing. If the animagus was spending time with his friend, he´d probably leave Harry and Draco to their own devices.

The boys had barely unpacked their trunks for the summer that they already were in the library.

"Don´t you want to rest a bit?" Sirius asked, surprised. He and Mr. Lupin were having tea at the library. A chessboard sat on the coffee table and Sirius was losing spectacularly. Mr. Lupin had already taken both his knights, a bishop and the queen without losing as much as a pawn.

Harry shook his head. "No," he explained. "At the graveyard I understood for the first time what I´m really facing. I need to learn all that I can. – Uhm, Sirius, can you organize duelling lessons for me? When I face that madman the next time, I want to be prepared."

"Of course!" Sirius hurried to promised. "Oh, Harry, I wish you hadn´t to go through this."

"But he has to," Draco interfered. "He can´t escape his destiny. All we can do is help him prepare."

"Wisely spoken, Draco," smiled Mr. Lupin. "And we´ll all help to the best of our abilities."

"Good," Harry said with determination. "First, I need to learn to deal with the pain. When he cast Cruciatus on me, I couldn´t think any more. Is there a spell to lessen the pain?"

"Unfortunately no," explained Sirius. "But as you know there are plenty of healing spells. They would help you recover quickly after having been hit by a curse." He walked over to one of the shelves. "I recommend this book."

Harry and Draco took the book back upstairs. They practiced the spells on each other. Sirius was furious when he found out they hurt themselves to practice healing spells. Harry asked whether the men wished to volunteer to play the injured person.

"Certainly not!" fumed the animagus. "Why don´t you ask that house elf of yours?"

"Injure Dobby? Are you mental?" Harry glared at his godfather angrily.

The house elf in question popped into existence at the mention of his name. "Dobby will gladly injure himself to help young master." The elf looked up at the boy admiringly. "Dobby will die for master."

"You will do nothing of that kind!" Harry ordered. "Draco and I are practicing. We have to do it ourselves."

That settled the matter for Dobby, but not for Sirius. Only Remus Lupin was able to calm him down when Draco asked him to help with the upset animagus.

The first weeks of summer passed quickly. When the boys weren´t practicing spells, they practiced duelling. Thanks to his injured knee Harry had to start all over. All the movements – falling savely, getting up quickly, dodging spells – didn´t work like they had last year. The boy moved slower and had to be careful not to put too much weight on the injured leg. When he became aware of the problem, he and Draco started working on new movements. The improvement came slowly, but little by little Harry learned how to move with his handicap.

When July neared its end, Albus Dumbledore and Uncle Severus came to Grimmauld Place.

"Uncle Severus! Why did you leave the Hogwarts grounds?" Harry hugged the potions master. "It´s too dangerous."

"Albus came as my bodyguard," the man reassured the boy. "I couldn´t miss your birthday, could I?"

"But my birthday is only next week!"

Uncle Severus smiled sadly. "We think it´s too dangerous for me to go next week. He knows when your birthday is and he´ll probably have his deatheaters watch out for me then." The man reached into his pocket and produced a small, longish parcel wrapped in Slytherin green. With a nonverbal spell, he resized it and held it out to Harry. "Happy birthday, Harry. You can open it now or wait until next week, as you choose."

"I´ll open it now if it´s alright with you." The boy smiled. It was the only present from his family he was going to get this year because Uncle Severus no longer saw Father and Mother, and he wanted to properly thank the potions master for it, not write a letter next week.

Uncle Severus nodded and they all – the boys, Dumbledore, Sirius and Remus and Uncle Severus – sat down in the library. Mr. Lupin served tea while Harry unwrapped his present. He gasped when he saw what it was.

"I went for something useful," the potions master said with a sad smile.

Sirius glared at him angrily. "How dare you! Harry is not an invalid!"

Draco moved closer to his brother to see better. "It´s beautiful!" he gasped.

"It´s perfect!" whispered Harry. He got up as quickly as his knee allowed and fell on the potions master´s neck. "Thank you!"

"Harry, you don´t have to use this thing," his godfather made himself heard.

"Oh, but I have to," Harry let go of Uncle Severus. He slid his index finger over the snake handle of his new cane. "It will make walking easier." He smiled. "And it´s a weapon." He smashed it down on the coffee table, breaking the piece of furniture. Draco repaired it with a quick spell. "And it looks exactly like Father´s." He stroked the snake lovingly. How Gryffindor of Sirius to only see a sign of weakness in a cane!

"I helped Lucius train to use his when he first got it," offered Uncle Severus. "If you like I can train a bit with you while I´m here. It will give you a start how to use it properly."

-x-

Harry, Draco and Uncle Severus went down to the basement room the boys used for their training. Harry proudly used the cane and even Sirius had to admit that the boy moved smoothlier with it. Once they were in the duelling room, Uncle Severus asked the cane back.

"I didn´t want to tell you in front of the others," he smiled. He took the snake head in a firm grip and with a twisting motion removed it from the cane. It was not only the handle to the cane, but also to a wand!

"It won´t work as well as your other wand, because the wand maker wasn´t able to see your magic himself, but it should work well enough to get you out of trouble. Especially if you use the moment of surprise."

Harry beamed. Oh, this was so good! Of course, as a Malfoy son, the boy knew that Lucius carried his wand in his cane, and now he had a cane-wand, too!

"You can even use the wand without drawing it," Uncle Severus continued. "But the wood will dampen the magic even further."

"But that way you won´t give away the whereabouts of your wand," Draco pointed out.

"Exactly." Uncle Severus agreed proudly. He had never doubted that two young Slytherins would figure out the usefulness of the present at once.

For the next two hours, they practiced defensive moves with the cane. Then Uncle Severus called a halt to the lesson. "I guess your godfather had enough time now to come up with an impromptu birthday party."

-x-

Harry´s real birthday party was, of course, on July, 31st. Sirius had invited the Weasleys, and the redheads had turned up, filling the house with chatter and laughter. Even Harry, who was sad that his family wasn´t there, had to admit that it was nice to have them around after over a month of training and practicing.

Kreacher and Dobby enjoyed the extra people to spoil immensely and outdid themselves with their cooking. There was a rather unpleasant scene, when Molly Weasley insisted they use the birthday cake she had brought. Dobby, who knew how much Harry despised the woman´s cooking, insisted that he and Kreacher had made the perfect cake for his young master. Sirius stood between the elf and the witch rather helpless.

"Why don´t we," drawled Harry at last, "eat the elves´ cake and leave Molly´s for decoration. It´s too beautiful to cut anyway." Draco nearly choked on the juice he was drinking, but hid the laughter in a coughing fit expertly. The elves´ cake was elegantly covered in plain – but certainly exquisite – chocolate, while Mrs. Weasley´s was buried under too much, too gaudy icing. There even was a clumsy attempt to make a snitch on top of it. How very fitting for a boy with a recently crippled leg.

The redheaded matron seemed content and returned to her children. Harry winked at Dobby and mouthed "Thank you!" to the small creature. The elf bowed and with a beatific smile started to cut the elf cake.

After every last crumb of cake had been eaten ("One would think you boys are getting cake for the first time in your lives," complained Mrs. Weasley) Sirius suggested to take the party to the library. Kreacher and Dobby hurried to move the drinks for the guests and everybody set out for the other room.

Harry used his cane which had sat in a corner by the kitchen door so far. First the boy had thought he´d only use it outside since ways were so short within a house, but it turned out to be very helpful on stairs, so he had started to carry it from room to room.

"Woah!" cried Ronald, "What´s that?" He eyed the cane with interest.

"A cane," Harry pointed out the obvious. After two years he had finally learned that it was often necessary with Gryffindors. "A present from Professor Snape. It helps a lot." Thinking of it, he wondered why nobody had ever thought of getting one for Ronald after his injury in their first year. But then the redheads limp was not as bad as Harry's.

"Cool!" Ronald tried to get a better look of the handle and Harry held it out for the boy to look at. "Wicked!"

"I´m certain we can find a deatheater to ruin your leg so you can have one, too," one of the twins said from behind the younger redhead. Ronald blushed and suddenly found his shoes extremely interesting.

"I think it´s cool, too," Harry said soothingly. "Father has the same. But of course I´d rather not need it." He was not going to point out that the cane was a weapon to Gryffindors.

At the library, a pile of presents waited for Harry. They were only sweet and cheap knickknacks as the Weasleys were very poor. The only dencent presents were from Sirius and Mr. Lupin. Sirius had bought Harry a new cloak, which was very necessary after a recent growth spurt. It was not the silk Mother preferred to dress her boys in, but nevertheless it looked decently expensive and was very soft. Mr. Lupin gave the boy a muggle book. First Harry thought the man was mocking him, but then he saw it was about martial arts. Muggles had found various ways, it seemed, for people to defend themselves even when they were not healthy or strong.

Harry had just sat down for a cup of tea when one of the twins – George? – held out a small box wrapped in Gryffindor colours. "There´s one left," the redhead pointed out cheerfully.

Harry accepted the parcel with a forced smile. Personally, he thought he had had enough third class rubbish to last him a lifetime, but the twin smiled at him so eagerly that he bit back a rude remark.

"Another present, George dear?" Molly Weasley smiled, proud that one of her sons had come up with an idea for a present. "What is it?"

"Surprise," grinned the boy.

Everybody watched Harry untie the bow and unwrap a small wooden box. Their looks of utter horror was the last thing he saw before he was whisked away again.


	17. Chapter 17

Harry rematerialised in total darkness. The floor under his body was hard, cold stone. Some seconds later a torch lit. Harry looked around and his blood froze. He knew where he was. He and Draco had played in the manor´s dungeons often enough for him to recognize the small holding cell.

-x-

Harry tried to open the door, but as was to be expected it was impossible. He laid his hand on the stone near the floor that would enable a Malfoy by blood to escape, but of course the ancient magic didn´t recognize him as a son of the house.

After he had tried what he had known to be in vain, Harry sat down and leaned his back against the wall beside the door. If he was lucky, he hoped, he could surprise whoever came for him. It was only when the boy tried to formulate a plan that he realised that he didn´t carry his wand. Nor had he brought along his cane.

He didn´t have to wait long. Barely ten minutes after his arrival, Harry heard the sound of soft footsteps. The boy scrambled to a standing position, determined to try his best to escape. As soon as the door opened, Harry jumped.

The boy delivered one hit before he stopped and instead fell to his would-be victim´s neck. He would recognize Father´s cologne anywhere!

"Harry!" Father whispered urgently. He disentangled himself from the boy in his arms. "We don´t have much time!"

Harry nodded. Of course, the magic of the house was set to notify the Master of the Manor – the head of Malfoy House – first when a prisoner arrived, but undoubtedly haste was imperative. He limped after Father as fast as he could.

"How did you come here?" Father whispered as he led the way up one of the smaller staircases.

"A portkey. I can´t believe nobody thought of checking the presents for portkeys."

Father snorted.

"I, on the other hand, was sure the old fool wouldtn´t think of me using the same plan twice." The cold voice made Harry´s blood freeze.

The Dark Lord ushered them to the library. Harry was scared, but being a true Slytherin he hid his fear. It wouldn´t do to give the enemy a weapon.

The comfortable group of sofas and armchairs where Harry, Draco and their parents had spent so many happy evenings in front of the fireplace was gone in favour of a single, thronelike chair. The evil wizard – he looked barely older than Harry – sat and stared at Father and Harry coldly.

"Lucius, you disappoint me," the dark wizard drawled at last.

"My Lord," Father said humbly, "I had to try. He is my son!"

"He´s a threat to your Lord! This is all that should count for you. When I marked you, you vowed to sacrifice your life for me!"

Father bowed. "I would gladly give my life for you, my Lord, but my son´s so much more precious than mine."

"No!" Harry protested.

"Once you are a parent, you will understand." Father turned to look into Harry´s eyes.

"Move aside, Lucius," Voldemort drawled. "Unlike Dumbledore, I will not make the same mistake twice. This time I won´t allow a parent to buy him protection. If you refuse to step aside, I will stupefy you and kill him before I deal with you."

Harry saw a muscle twitch in Father´s neck, but otherwise the man didn´t move from the protective position he had taken in front of Harry.

"So be it," the Dark Lord raised his wand.

"No!" Harry cried again, but this time he dodged the arm Father held out to keep him behind him. "No!" Harry repeated and stepped in front of Father.

"Harry."

"Father, your sacrifice would gain nothing." Harry stood his ground.

The dark wizard smirked. "How endearing!" He got up from his seat and stepped closer to Harry. "So foolish, just like your mother."

"My mother was not foolish," Harry smiled back. "She vanquished you, didn´t she?"

For a moment, the Dark Lord looked scared, but then his smile was back.

"She was a Gryffindor. What is a victory worth when you have to die for it?" He chuckled. "You look like her, do you know? Although her eyes held less defiance and more fear. Anyway, I killed her and now I will kill you. – AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Harry´s world went dark, but all of a sudden the world came into focus again. He smiled at the boy in front of him. Voldemort distorted his face with fear.

"What kind of magic is this?" he screamed. "I thought it was she who protected you against my spell but it seems you´re immune! If I have to I will kill you with my bare hands!" With an outcry of fury the boy jumped at Harry, his handsome face a mask of hatred.

Harry tried to dodge him, but he was too slow with his injured leg. Voldemort clutched at Harry´s throat. For a moment, the boy couldn´t breathe, but the pain was gone almost instantly and the attacking wizard´s expression of hatred changed to one of surprise and fear.

Harry was as surprised as the evil wizard in front of him was. The skin on the monster´s hand was boiling in blisters. Its colour changed between a sickly yellow and an angry red and finally turned to an ashy grey. And then the Dark Lord´s fingers crumbled! A scream of agony left the monster´s lips as the grey raced down the hands, up his arms, under his sleeves and only died when the grey reappeared from under his robes at the neck.

"Sweet Merlin!" Harry whispered.

Suddenly he was whirled around and wrapped into a tight hug. "It´s over, Harry, it´s over!" Father whispered into the boys hair again and again. The boy wrapped his arms around Father´s waist and enjoyed the feeling of comfort and security until the man finally loosened his embrace, stroked the boy´s hair and said "Let´s tell Mother and Draco."

-x-

Mother hadn´t changed one bit since Harry had last seen her. She was still the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and the kind smile she reserved for her sons was still there. The boy and the woman lay in each other´s arms for some long minutes, whispering endearments and how much they had missed each other.

Once they had had their fill of each other, Mother, Father and Harry sat down and discussed what to do next over a cup of tea.

"I want Draco back as quickly as possible," said Mother and Father agreed that this had top priority.

"He´s with Sirius," said Harry. He wanted to tell Father where that was, but when he tried he couldn´t remember.

"A Fidelius Charm," said Father. "You can´t tell me or anybody else where the house is. We have to notify somebody who can get in touch with cousin Sirius for us."

"Dumbledore," Harry suggested. "He was there for my birthday."

"He may even be the secret keeper," Mother added.

A note to the old man was quickly written and Father´s fastest owl was sent off to deliver it as quickly as possible.

-x-

The Malfoys and Harry went to the Leaky Cauldron the next morning. Albus Dumbledore arrived shortly after them.

"Harry!" the old wizard hugged the boy tightly."What happened?"

Father told the older man how the Dark Lord had burnt to ashes when he had touched Harry. The headmaster was surprised. "It seems Lily´s blood protection is still in place although Harry never lived with her blood. That´s very strange."

"I´m sure the Malfoys and the Potters are somehow related," Lucius pointed out.

"But it was Lily´s sacrifice that saved Harry. The Malfoys would have to be related with the Evans."

"Muggles," sneered Father. "Definitely not."

"Father tried to protect me," Harry pointed out.

"That may have triggered the blood protection," mused Dumbledore. He didn´t sound convinced.

"Anyway," Father changed topic. "We want Draco back."

The old wizard nodded. "Why don´t we go and pick him up?" He slid a slice of parchment to Mother and Father.

-x-

Ten minutes later, the Malfoys, Harry and the headmaster arrived at London. It was the first time that Harry looked forward to entering number 12, Grimmauld Place.

"Harry is back!" cried Ron Weasley as soon as the small group entered the house. There was a rush of people and moments later Harry found himself embraced by Sirius Black while Draco snuggled up to Mother and Father. The Weasleys hovered around the scene and when the hugs finally became less desperate, Mrs. Weasley spoke up. "I´m so sorry, Harry. George was under Imperius! He´d never consciously endanger you!"

Harry smiled feebly. "I know that."

Father was not so calm. "I hope so," he sneered at the woman. "But obviously he was stupid enough to endanger himself in times of war. And by doing that he endangered everybody, including Harry."

"He´s only a boy!" cried Mrs. Weasley in defense of her son, but Father wouldn´t have it. "A boy who could have killed his own family in their sleep had the Dark Lord ordered it," he glared at the witch.

"Lucius," Mother laid a soothing hand on Father´s arm. "Accusations won´t change a thing."

"You´re right, dear," the blond wizard bowed to his wife and she smiled at him. "Let´s just be glad everything went well."

"It´s finally over," cheered the Weasley children.

"I´m afraid it´s not," said a low voice from the living room door.

Harry squealed with delight and ran to hug Uncle Severus. The potions master must have come to Grimmauld Place after Harry had disappeared.

"What do you mean?" asked Mr. Weasley and allowed himself to be ushered to the living room along with the others.

"We thought it was over last time he disappeared," Sirius reminded the other man.

Dumbledore cleared his throat. "The magical device he used to come back was a horcrux. – That´s an object carrying a piece of the soul of a dark wizard," he added for the youngsters present. "We can´t be sure he didn´t make more. To be more exact, I believe him to have made about half a dozen."

"Is there evidence for the existence of more?" asked Remus Lupin.

Uncle Severus answered that question. "When he first disappeared, the Dark Mark faded, but didn´t disappear. It´s the same this time." He looked at Father for support and the blond hinted a nod.

"We have to destroy them!" cried Ronald.

"Indeed, Mr. Weasley," agreed Dumbledore. "We have to find them and destroy them before one of his followers can use one to bring him back."

"We´ll help!" offered Fred.

"No, you won´t," growled his mother. "This is not for kids."

"But I want to do something!" insisted George.

"You´ve done enough," sneered Father.

"He couldn´t know!" cried Mrs. Weasley.

"He could have been aware that it was unwise to get himself caught!" Father insisted.

Again, Mother calmed him.

"I suggest we meet tomorrow, when we are all a bit less emotional," Father sighed. "Come, boys, let´s go home." He got up and Mother, Draco and Harry followed his lead.

"What do you think where you´re taking Harry?" growled Sirius.

"Why, home, where he belongs," Father sneered. Mother wrapped her arm around Harry´s shoulders.

"I beg to differ," Sirius glared daggers at Father. "Harry is at home."

"Harry belongs to his family." Harry couldn´t but admire Father´s ability to look down on Sirius although the other man was the same size.

"We agree at something at least. I happen to be his family."

"Cousin," Narcissa interfered, "I won´t deny that as a godfather you should be part of his family, but you can´t replace mother and father. Or brother."

"Funny that James and Lily meant me to do just that." Sirius stood his ground.

"I think it´s safe to assume they also expected you to find a nice girl and give Harry a family if they couldn´t," snapped Father. "I don´t know about Lily Potter, but I really can´t see James want his son to stay with a single exconvict, who can´t show his face in polite society."

"I was cleared of all charges!" cried Sirius. "I´m Harry´s godfather and therefore Harry will live with me! He has for the past three years!"

"I allowed it out of necessity, and Harry agreed because he knew it couldn´t be helped. Why don´t we ask him?"

"He´s a child, he doesn´t know what is good for him."

"He´s fifteen and a Slytherin." Father smirked at Sirius.

"That alone shows you brainwashed the boy! All his family was in Gryffindor! He should have gone there, too!"

Harry decided it was time to make his own voice heard. "I want to return to Mother and Father," he said. "You took good care of me, Sirius, but I miss them. They are my family. The only one I know!"

"But Lucius is a deatheater! They are Slytherins, they´re using you!" protested Sirius.

Harry sighed. He had no doubt that Sirius had the law on his side or Father would have pointed out the contrary by now. How could he convince the man that he belonged to Malfoy Manor?

Inspiration hit suddenly. Harry rummaged for the protective pendant he had got when he had done magic for the first time. He showed it to Sirius and read to him what was written on it. "March, 5th, 1987; colourful sparks of light while laughing. Does that sound like the first act of magic of a mistreated child to you? The Malfoys are my family! I want to stay with them."

"But I promised to James and Lily!" Sirius insisted.

"And you keep your promise by letting me stay with the people I love. It´s not your fault you couldn´t be there for me. Pettigrew was the only one to blame!" Harry smiled at Sirius brilliantly.

Father came to Harry´s aid. "Of course you´d be welcome to visit." Mother smiled and voiced her agreement.

At last Sirius sighed. "As you would hate me if I´d keep you from them… but I´ll visit!"

"I insist you do!" Harry hugged Sirius.

Once that was settled, Father and the other men agreed to meet at Hogwarts the next day to start their horcrux hunt, and then they left and two minutes later, Harry was at home.

Dobby, who had been following Harry like a shadow – most of the time invisible – for the past two years, happily busied himself preparing Harry´s room for him while the family celebrated their reunion with chocolate cake and cocoa.

All four Malfoys sat cuddled together on one of the sofas. From time to time Mother and Father asked questions about the boys´ lives while they had been away from their parents, but most of the time they quietly shared their snack. Mother stroked the boys´ hair again and again as if she had to touch them to convince herself they were really there.

"That was a clever move, how you handled Sirius," Father praised when he had finished his slice of cake. "I´d have killed him, hadn´t he agreed to let you come home," the blond wizard growled, "but this way was preferable."

"You wouldn´t have killed my cousin," Mother said softly.

"I would!" insisted Father. "But I prefer him alive. He may be useful in our hunt."

"What exactly is a horcrux?" asked Draco. Harry pricked up his ears. That was, indeed, an interesting question.

"That´s magic so dark you never can use it!" Father said warningly. Harry thought it must be really dark, because Father had never told them not to use a spell. No, they had learned from a young age that spells mustn't be divided in dark and light, but rather in useful and useless. Any useful spell was a good spell. "A horcrux gives you immortality," Father continued, "but at a high price. You have to put a piece of your soul into it to stay behind when your body dies and with it the piece of soul it contains."

Draco shuddered. "Who would want to go back to his family with only half a soul?" he asked.

"Exactly, son," Lucius cried. "The most noble goal of any pureblood wizard is to provide for his family. To give them a home, to make them prosper. He has to put his whole being into the task, his body, heart and soul. Using a part of his soul for a selfish item like a horcrux would be like stealing from them."

"It would be an insult to his ancestors, who built the base for his family." Draco looked scandalized.

Harry agreed fullheartedly. "How can any decent wizard do less for his House than his forefathers?"

Narcissa hugged both boys close to her. "I´m so proud of you! That´s the attitude I´ve been trying to teach you."

The smallish house elf, a female called Lotty, who had brought the cake and cocoa earlier returned with a small pop. "Young master´s room is ready," she bowed. "Lotty has removed all the evil wizard´s things."

"He slept in my room?" Draco was taken aback.

"He moved in last summer, when Dumbledore kept you at Hogwarts. He said the view was better," Father growled. Then he started. "Lotty, where did you put the evil wizard´s things?"

"Lotty put them in the dustbin! Isn´t that was master wanted?" The small elf looked close to tears. Harry half expected her to start to punish herself.

"You did well," Father said in his most calming voice. "I changed my plans though. Put them into a box. I want to show them to Dumbledore."

"Lotty will put them into a box," the elf bowed again and disappeared.

"Do you think he kept a horcrux at our house?" Mother asked. She sounded a bit frightened.

"I don´t know, but let´s be on the safe side and check."

The boys stayed up longer than Mother had ever allowed before, until well after midnight. There was so much to tell about the time they had had to spend apart from their parents, and Mother and Father wanted to know everything. At last, when Draco didn´t manage to stifle another yawn, Mother sent them off to bed, but not before Father had personally checked the boys´ rooms for any traps left behind by the Dark Lord.

The next morning – everybody was still tired, but they had an appointment – the whole family flooed to Hogwarts. Mother and the boys went through to the headmaster´s office first. Father followed rather awkwardly for he was carrying a huge box.

Uncle Severus, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Arthur Weasley and a still guilty looking Fred were already gathered around an enlarged coffee table, sipping tea the headmaster was just finishing handing out when the Malfoy family arrived.

"You know, Lucius," Sirius pointed out mockingly, "you could have used several spells on that box to make your life easier." George giggled, but stopped when he realised that nobody else did.

Father shot Sirius an angry glare. "As soon as we find a horcrux, you may try out any spell you wish on it, as far as I´m concerned," Father growled, though without real malice. He had taken Harry from the man. Nobody expected Sirius to act especially amicably around him.

"A horcrux?" cried Sirius. He got up to have a closer look at the box.

"Isn´t that box rather bulky for a horcrux?" asked Arthur Weasley.

"Actually, I have no idea how big a soul is," George admitted.

The Slytherins present rolled their eyes and the two Weasleys blushed.

"I take it you brought every single item he left at your home with you?" asked Dumbledore.

Father nodded. "I´m not sure how to recognize a horcrux. I´ve read about them, like I guess most of you have," a glance in the Weasleys´ direction showed clearly who he did not think had, "but as the spell is so … undecent, I´ve never seen one."

"Few have," said Dumbledore. "One of my sources says that you can feel the piece of soul in the item´s aura. Has anybody of you ever seen that diary Ginevra had found? Did you feel something strange around it?"

"Nobody knew she had one," sighed Arthur Weasley. "We´re still at a loss where it came from."

Father shifted uncomfortably in the seat he had taken after he had gotten rid of the box. "It was I who placed it in her cauldron. At the bookshop, before you hit me," he admitted.

Arthur Weasley was up in an instant. "You killed my child!" he roared. "You evil little cockroach!"

"I didn´t kill your girl, Weasley," Father pointed out. "The Dark Lord did."

"But it was you who gave her the horcrux! It was you who chose her as the victim!" The redhaired man struggled against Uncle Severus and Remus Lupin, who were desperately trying to keep him from starting another fistfight with Father.

"I had no idea what it was," cried Father, defending himself. "I have children! Do you really think I´d have given a deadly item to a little girl?"

"Yes, I think you´d have done that!" Arthur Weasley cried, but stopped struggling. "But I´ve also seen how you fought for Harry. I don´t think you´d do it nowadays." With something that sounded remarkably like a sob the man sat back down and concentrated on his teacup.

Father nodded. "You are right. I wouldn´t do it nowadays, but I would have back then. Though I swear I had no idea what I was giving to her at the time." He turned to face Dumbledore. "And I did not feel anything strange about the diary."

"In that case, we have to first research how to identify a horcrux." The headmaster summoned a stack of books from his private quarters. "I removed them from the library. None of our students should get strange ideas."

"Don´t you think it´s easier to defend against a danger if you know what it is?" asked Sirius. Several of the men nodded.

"The knowledge would be tempting for some," Dumbledore said defensively. He handed out books to the adults present. "Now, let´s not quarrel, but search for a way to recognize a horcrux."

Father sneered at the old man. "Haven´t you read these books?"

"Of course I have!"

"Then why do you expect us to find what you didn´t?" He got up. "I have some old tomes at the family library on the topic which I haven´t read. I´ll go and get them. Meanwhile, I suggest you interview the boy," he looked at George pointedly, "how it was possible he was put under Imperius."

"Tomes? Several of them?" Mr. Weasley asked in disbelief when Father had stepped into the floo. "Albus, are you sure it´s wise to associate with these people?"

Before the headmaster could answer the question, Mother spoke up. "Says the man whose son helped the Dark Lord to get his fingers on mine. Now, who of us is worse company?" Harry had never before seen Mother so angry. Usually, it was Father who did the fighting for the family, but in this very moment Harry understood for the first time that actually people were lucky that Mother chose to let him do it. The woman radiated anger and power.

Mr. Weasley shrank back.

Mother let the pause last for another moment, just long enough to let the wizard feel appropriately inferior, before she continued. "Lucius posed a valid question. How was it possible that the Dark Lord put you under Imperius? Did he walk into your family home? Are your parents doing his bidding?"

"WE ARE NOT!" roared Mr. Weasley. "HOW DARE YOU!" He was on his feet in an instant.

Mother rose, too, but slowly and gracefully. "It´s a legitimate question. Does he have followers whom he didn´t bring to the Manor, whom we do not know about." She stared back at Mr. Weasley fearlessly.

"I assure you, Lady Narcissa, that Arthur´s loyalty is beyond question." Dumbledore took a step toward the angry witch and wizard. "Arthur, Narcissa nearly lost her son. She has a right to know what happened to George."

Both adults glared at each other a little longer, none of them willing to turn away first, until they finally sat back down.

"George." Arthur´s tone left no room for contradiction.

The redheaded boy swallowed hard before he started his tale. "I´m not sure when it happened, because I can´t remember having met him ever. Last week, I and George sneaked over the hills. There´s that little forest near the Diggorys´ dwelling, which has a muggle-repelant charm. George and I used to collect ingredients for our experiments there and we´re out of nearly EVERYthing."

Arthur gasped. "And it never occurred to you that Amos had cast those spells because he wanted that forest for his own ingredients? Or were you stealing consciously?"

"We never took much!" George defended himself.

"And you think that´s an excuse?" cried Mr. Weasley.

"I´d rather hear about what happened at the forest than witness you telling the boy off," interrupted Mother. Now that things were moving her way, she was an epitome of dignity. Harry and Draco exchanged an admiring glance.

Mr. Weasley huffed, but signalled George to continue.

"It was the only time we left the house without an adult. I talked to Fred about it yesterday evening. We both remember looking for herbs. We remember finding leaves of lilies of the valley. We also remember finding several mushrooms. But when we returned home, we had bark of hazel in our bags, and neither of us remembers where we got it."

"If they met the Dark Lord there, he´s likely to have obliviated them," Uncle Severus made himself heard.

The headmaster nodded. "Very likely."

"Albus," said Mr. Weasley, "you know mind magic. Can you restore the memories?"

"I can try. It depends on which spells were used. – With your permission, George?" The old wizard raised his wand.

"No," cried Mother, startling Harry. "Severus knows mind magic, too. I trust Severus."

"But I…" started Mr. Weasley. Dumbledore stopped him with a raised hand. "Arthur," said the headmaster, "Severus knows more about His magic than I. His chance of success is better than mine."

Uncle Severus stepped closer to George. After a nod of permission from the boy, the potions master cast his spell. Harry felt sympathy for the redhead, who looked most uncomfortable. He knew from his own occlumency lessons how dreadful an experience legilimency was.

It was over after less than five minutes. Uncle Severus sat back down and he and George both took some deep sips of tea. The fireplace flared to life and Father returned holding a stack of books.

"Ah, Lucius," smiled Dumbledore. "Right on time."

Father sat beside Mother. Once he was settled comfortably, Uncle Severus started.

"The Dark Lord met them at the forest. The boys stood no chance. He stunned them from behind, cast Imperius on George and then obliviated them. They were lucky he needed them to get Harry or he would have killed them both. It was very unwise to leave the property on your own." The last was directed at George who hung his head guiltily.

"Now we know that, let´s find out about horcruxes," Father pressed. He handed out the books he had brought. "I took off all the protective curses. Only this one," he patted the book he had kept for himself, "has unremovable spells linked to blood. Only Draco and I can touch it. Harry, you better be careful. I don´t know whether the spell will accept you as a Malfoy, and knowing what it does, I don´t want to find out."

The next hours were spent reading and drinking tea. It was Uncle Severus who cried out in triumph at last.

"Here!" the potions master cried and pointed at the page he had been reading. "It says that snakes have the ability to feel horcruxes."

"Snakes?" echoed Sirius Black. The man shuddered. "I don´t like snakes."

Uncle Severus ignored the man. "Harry, do you still have your pet snake?"

Harry looked at his godfather guiltily. The man had ordered him to leave Shamira at Hogwarts and not bring her to Grimmauld Place, but Harry could not leave his pet behind, could he? With a soft hissing call the boy lifted his right trouser leg and the snake slithered down his leg.

"Master?" the snake asked.

"Shamira," Harry hissed back, "is it true that you can tell whether an item is a horcrux?"

The snake looked puzzled. "What is a horcrux, Master?"

Harry looked up at the adults. "I´m sorry, but she doesn´t know about horcruxes." He stooped and held out his hand. Shamira wrapped around his arm happily. Having had to stay out of sight at all times for such a long period had been straining for the small serpent.

Dumbledore got up from his seat and walked over to his desk, from where he retrieved a small black book. "This is the diary, which caused the death of Ginevra Weasley," the old man explained. "Harry, can you explain to the snake what it once was and ask her whether it feels unusual in any way?"

Harry did as he was asked. Shamira listened intently. When the boy had finished his explanations, he asked Dumbledore for the diary and let Shamira see it close. The snake´s tongue slid over the old leather several times before she started giving her report in quick, low hisses.

"This is not a normal book," Harry translated. "It once was a prison to a man. I can still feel his spirit."

Harry explained that nobody had been caught in the book, but that a wizard had used it to store his soul. Shamira shuddered at the thought.

"Can you look at some things for us and tell us whether a soul is in them?" Harry asked at last. "You have to be very careful, though. In these things the soul may still be there, and I don´t want you hurt."

Shamira agreed to the task and Father opened the box with the Dark Lord´s things for her. The snake would have dived into the box, but Harry didn´t allow it. "We will lift the things out for you. I don´t want you in danger, Shamira."

"Thank you, Master," hissed the snake. "Can you hold me over the box first? I think if one of those things holds a soul, I can feel it from afar."

Harry nodded and carefully lifted the snake. Shamira cried out as soon as she got near the box. "Evil!" she shrieked. "Evil!"

"Do you mean a curse or an evil soul?" Harry asked, excited.

"A soul! The blackest soul of all!" cried the snake.

"Would you mind telling us what you two are talking about?" Sirius Black interfered. He eyed Shamira suspiciously.

Harry sighed. He had forgotten that the others didn´t understand parseltongue. "It seems," he then summed up, "that we have a horcrux in that box."

The present wizards (and Mother) shuddered. It was one thing to suspect you were near a horcrux, but actually knowing there was one in the room was utterly terrifying.

"At least one we don´t have to go looking for," said Uncle Severus, ever practical.

Father nodded. "What is it?" he asked, peeking into the box from afar.

"I don´t know," Harry admitted. "I have to ask Shamira to identify it." He switched to parseltongue. "Shamira, I need to know which item in the box holds the soul. Can you find out?"

The snake curled around Harry´s wrist. "Please, Master, don´t make me!" she cried, her voice shaky with fear. "It´s evil, oh so evil!" She slithered up Harry´s sleeve to hide.

"I know it is evil," Harry said soothingly. Some distant part of his brain registered he must look foolish, talking into his own sleeve. "We need to destroy the evil or it will try to destroy me and my loved ones. I need your help, Shamira! Please!"

The diamond-shaped head of the small serpent reappeared. "The Evil In The Box is the same which master had to hide from?"

Harry nodded.

The snake showed a little more of her elegant frame. "Shamira will gladly help her master, but the Evil In The Box is so scary."

Harry smiled. "Do you see those mighty wizards sitting with us? Every one of them is scared, so don´t be ashamed of your fear." He switched back to plain English. "I think Shamira will cooperate if we promise to protect her from the Evil In The Box."

"Yes, yes," said Father dismissively. "Whatever, as long as she helps."

Harry informed the snake of Father´s promise and Shamira allowed herself to be set on the coffee table. Carefully, Dumbledore and Father placed one item from the box after the other in front of the snake. Shamira shook her head again and again.

"That´s it," Father said at last. "There´s nothing left!"

Everybody was disappointed. For some glorious minutes they had thought they had found one of the horcruxes. How was it possible that Shamira had first said there was evil in the box, and now there was nothing? Harry got up to look into the now empty box. He nearly overlooked it. There, in the corner of the box, hidden by the dancing shadows caused by the fire in the crate, lay a simple used thread of brown wool, no longer than four inches.

Harry took it out of the box and got his answer immediately. Shamira slithered down to the floor and hid under the sofa, close to panic.

"Does this hold the soul?" Harry asked for confirmation.

"Yes!" a shaking hiss answered from under the furniture.

"A thread of wool?" asked Mr. Weasley in disbelief. "Why would the most terrible wizard of all times hide his soul in a thread of wool?"

"That´s a good question," agreed Dumbledore. "Knowing Tom Riddle, I´d expect him to chose significant objects to hold pieces of his soul. Is the snake sure, Harry?"

"She hid under the sofa," growled Draco, who had been uncharacteristically quiet through the whole search. "What more of an answer do you need? I, for one, don´t need parseltongue to understand that."

Something akin to pride sparked in Father´s eyes when Draco all but called the headmaster a fool, covering the insult so smoothly.

The answer to the question at hand came from an unexpected sourse. George spoke up in a shaky voice.

"This thread of wool was Ginny´s," he croaked. "She took it from her last jumper to use it as a hair-band in potions."

Mr. Weasley looked shocked for an instant, then he pulled his son into a tight embrace. "Ginny!" he whispered.

"A token from the witch he killed to rerise. I can see how that was important to him," mused Dumbledore.

Mother and Father looked at each other uncomfortably. Being parents themselves, they felt miserable about being reminded of a murdered child.

Uncle Severus gave the others a moment to calm down before he spoke up. "How do we destroy it?"


	18. Chapter 18

"I can help with that!" cried the headmaster excitedly. "There are several ways to destroy horcruxes!" The old wizard beamed at the group proudly.

Again it was Draco who snarled at the man. "What are you waiting for? Do we have to bribe you into telling us?"

"Draco!" Father acted scandalized by his son´s behaviour, but Harry knew him well enough to see through the act. It was a strategy both, he and Draco, had learned from a young age. The weaker partner in a team attacked while the stronger one watched out for a weakness in their opponent to deliver the final strike. It was a bit like laying an ambush in plain view.

"The boy is right," snarled Uncle Severus. Being a Slytherin he knew the strategy and played along. "Do tell, Albus."

"Of course, of course," the headmaster hurried to say. "As I said, there are several possibities. We could use Fiendfyre."

Father, Mother and Uncle Severus gasped. Harry knew better than to ask right away, but made a mental note to ask once they were back home.

"I will not allow you to unleash Fiendfyre with my sons nearby!" growled Father. "There must be another way."

"There is," the headmaster reassured the blond wizard. "There are several poisons that can destroy horcruxes. One of them is basilisk venom."

"There is a basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets," cried Harry. "We can fetch some from there!"

"Wonderful!" Father rubbed his hands with a satisfied smirk.

"It´s not that easy," said the headmaster. "When I went down to try and save young Miss Weasley, I petrified the beast. Permanentely."

Uncle Severus made a face. "And destroyed the venom in the course."

The headmaster hung his head. "I´m sorry."

"Don´t be, Albus," cried Mr. Weasley. "You tried to save my daughter!"

"Do you think there is some venom left?" asked Father. "Dumbledore, you were in a hurry. Is it possible you didn´t petrify the basilisk all way through?"

The old man looked puzzled. "It won´t hurt to check. Harry, can you open the chamber for me?"

"Us!" insisted Father.

"I´d like to come, too," said Uncle Severus. He crossed his legs. "There could be plenty of potions ingredients down there."

"We have to take Harry," the headmaster pointed out with a benign smile. "There may be more doors which only he can open."

"If my son goes, so do I." Mother´s tone left no room for negotiation.

They went all together. Harry hissed at the tap in Moaning Myrtle´s bathroom and the sink slid back to reveal the entrance. The headmaster went down first, then Father, then Harry and after him the others.

The Weasleys were clearly shaken at seeing the chamber where their daughter and sister had died. The headmaster pointed out the spot where he had found Ginevra´s body, before he led the others to a far corner of the chamber.

There, in the shadow, stood a huge statue of a serpent. It took Harry a little to realise that it was not a statue, but the petrified basilisk. It was so big! The boy tried to picture what it would be like to face the gigantic beast. It was unthinkable.

Harry, Draco and Mother stood back and watched Father, Uncle Severus and the headmaster examining the basilisk. Uncle Severus applied a spell to break one of the beast´s fangs. Father cast a spell to keep the fang up and levitate it slowly to the ground. After one glance, the headmaster sighed disappointedly.

"Let´s try another," said Father.

While the men repeated the procedure, Harry watched Mr. Weasley and George, who were kneeling at the place which Dumbledore had named as the spot where Ginevra had died. George was shaking with sobs and Mr. Weasley stroked the cold stone, searching for a connection to his dead child.

Suddenly Harry heard a strangely familiar sound. It took him a moment to realise what it was, but then he acted instantly. "Cover your eyes! There´s another basilisk!" he shouted.

Helpless, he watched Mr. Weasley lung at his son to cover his eyes, dropping dead in midair. The basilisk fell to the ground, hit by four spells from Dumbledore´s, Uncle Severus´s, Father´s and Mother´s wands.

"Dad!" howled Fred.

The headmaster and Father rushed to the stunned basilisk, while Mother and Uncle Severus hurried to assist the Weasleys.

"Stand back!" Uncle Severus ordered. "The basilisk is only small. If we´re lucky, there may be help for him." He cast several spells at Mr. Weasley´s limp body. "He´s still alive, but only just. We have less than an hour to administer the necessary potions. Narcissa, levitate him to my lab! Draco, run to the hospital wing! I need Dreamless Sleep, Pepper-Up and flu potion as quickly as possible."

If Draco was surprised by the potions Uncle Severus asked for, he didn´t give his surprise away. Instead he sprinted towards the exit of the chamber, Uncle Severus on his heel. Mother ordered Harry to stay with Father and then levitated Mr. Weasley after Draco and Uncle Severus. George followed in her wake.

The headmaster used a hastily transfigured vial to collect venom from the unconscious basilisk. Father stood guard, his wand held high. "Harry," he asked without failing to watch out for more attackers. "Are there more around?"

Harry shook his head. "I heard only one, but that doesn´t mean there aren´t more."

After the venom, Dumbledore collected saliva and scales for Uncle Severus. Father suggested to take tears, too. "What about blood?" Harry asked. "Good thinking!" cried Dumbledore. When he had filled a small box with vials and jars of venom, blook, tears, saliva, scales, teeth and lashes, the headmaster delivered the final spell to the basilisk. The beast turned to stone.

Once they had dealt with the giant snake – compared with the other one, Harry was sure it was only a baby – Father collected a jar of basilisk droppings and the headmaster walked around to explore more of the chamber.

Harry and the old wizard followed Father´s call to a side-chamber. Father was collecting the remnants of an egg-shell. "There was only one egg," he informed them.

"What a discovery, Lucius!" cried Dumbledore. "So far, we were led to believe that basilisks are born from chicken eggs hatched by a toad. As this chamber hardly holds chickens or toads, our knowledge abouts basilisks has to be reviewed. It seems they´re able to multiply like common snakes."

Father shuddered. "In this case, I suggest we leave before the second parent finds us!" He closed the small box he had used to collect egg-shell shards. The headmaster drew his wand and watched out. Harry drew his, too, just to be sure. On the way out, the boy spotted a small stack of books in a corner. Carefully he levitated the books after him and followed the headmaster. Father made up the rear of their small group.

Once they were back in the bathroom, Harry closed the chamber. The headmaster led the way down to the dungeons where Uncle Severus was brewing the potions needed to save Mr. Weasley. Mother was stirring the potion in one of eight cauldrons. George was cutting what looked like liver at top speed.

"Albus, I need you to brew an infusion of basil and lacewing flies! I need it in ten minutes!" cried Uncle Severus instead of a greeting. "Lucius, slice those!" He pointed at a stack of various potions ingredients laid out on the work table. "Harry, help Draco!"

Harry looked around. Draco was whipping a pinkish liquid. "Thestral milk," huffed Draco. "I´m beating it to get cheese balls. I need you to take the cheese out of the bowl once I succeeded. If I stop beating, it will dissolve." Harry took a spoon and watched bubbles whirling in the bowl. There! Harry succeeded in getting the cheese on first try.

"Got one!" cried Draco. "What now?"

"Help the others cut the ingredients," ordered Uncle Severus.

After another quarter hour of joint effort, the potions master held up a vial of bright red liquid. "Cross your fingers!" he ordered before he held the vial to Mr. Weasley´s lifeless lips. Slowly, the potion disappeared in the redheaded wizard´s mouth. George was fidgeting nervously. When nothing happened, the boy started to cry.

"Nothing is lost, yet," Uncle Severus said soothingly. George wiped his face with his sleeve.

After ten more minutes, Mr. Weasley´s eyes fluttered open. "George!" the man cried and looked around frantically searching for his son.

"George is safe, Arthur," the headmaster said softly. "We´re all safe."

Uncle Severus and the headmaster went to turn the nearby potions classroom into a makeshift cafeteria. Mother ushered Harry, Draco and Father to go after them to give the Weasleys some moments of privacy. Uncle Severus transfigured some of the students´ work tables into a dining table and more comfortable chairs. The headmaster ordered a house elf to bring lunch for the group.

Mr. Weasley joined them a quarter hour later. "I sent George home," he informed the headmaster. "I will not risk losing another child."

The old wizard nodded in understanding. "He gave us all the information we needed from him," he said, spooning salad from a large bowl onto his plate. "There´s no reason to keep him here." He then turned to Uncle Severus. "We harvested all potion ingredients we could think of from the basilisk, Severus. We only need a bit of the venom for our horcrux hunt, the rest can go into your store cupboards."

The potions master swallowed the bite of chicken he had been chewing on. "Splendid. There are several healing potions which require basilisk parts. I´ll have a look at what you got. If the amount is big enough I even may use some of the basilisk parts for our seventh years."

"As it was Harry who made the acquisition of the ingredients possible, I insist he and Draco are taught what they can be used for." Father sipped some wine.

Uncle Severus hinted a nod and the topic was dropped.

"When were you going to let us know that you are back?" Sirius Black and Mr. Lupin stormed into the potions classroom. "I had to ask a house elf!" Harry´s godfather was enraged. Mr. Lupin had easily agreed on studying the books on horcruxes instead of joining them down in the Chamber, but with Sirius it had taken a direct order from the headmaster to make him stay behind.

"Sirius! Sit down and have a bit of roast beef!" the headmaster cried merrily. "Let us tell you about our adventure!"

Harry thought "adventure" was an audacious expression for their encounter with a basilisk and Mr. Weasley´s near-death. Sirius Black, it turned out, thought so, too.

"Harry could have died!" the man cried. "I would have killed you!"

Mr. Lupin laid a soothing hand on the other man´s arm. "Sirius, have you tried this excellent pasta?" he asked with fake merriment.

"The food at Hogwarts is always excellent. No reason to make a fuss about it," growled Sirius. "I agree with Lucius," he continued then. "It´s only just Harry is taught about the use of basilisk parts."

"I already agreed to that," huffed Uncle Severus.

Harry decided he had to distract the men somehow, or soon they would start cursing each other. Sirius was still upset about being left behind and neither Uncle Severus nor Father was one to take an insult from a Gryffindor easily.

"I found some books." Harry announced.

"Books?" echoed Father. "What books?"

"There was a stack of books down in the Chamber."

"We could have taken them!" cried Dumbledore. "Going to fetch them is too dangerous with the second basilisk parent on the lose down there."

"I brought them," huffed Harry. "Wait a minute."

He went back to the lab where he had left the books and levitated them to the potions classroom. Father smiled proudly when he saw that Harry hadn´t touched the books.

Harry and Draco shared some ice-cream for dessert while the adults checked the books for curses. It took nearly half an hour until the headmaster declared it safe to touch the books.

When the headmaster reached for the first book, Father extended his arm forbiddingly to hold the man back. "Those books are Harry´s by wizards´ right. Nobody will touch what it is his without his express permission."

Dumbledore took a step back. "Of course," he then stated. "Harry." He motioned at Harry to take the books.

Harry looked at Father for permission – thus conveying that he considered him in charge, not the headmaster – and only when the head of Malfoy house nodded, stepped to the book stack and opened the first book.

"Forever young by Eros Blacksoul. It seems it belongs to the Hogwarts library," the boy informed the rest of the group.

"That means Riddle left it in the chamber," Sirius stated the obvious. Only the Gryffindors nodded. The Slytherins present didn´t deign such a remark an answer. "It´s worthless."

"I have to disagree," sneered Uncle Severus. "It will prove useful to know who he learned from."

Harry put the first book aside. The second one was a book on horcruxes. The find would have been more important hadn´t Father brought his copy of the book earlier. The third was a potions text.

Uncle Severus leafed through it. "It seems it mostly deals with potions that slow down the aging process."

"Slow down the aging process?" echoed Mr. Lupin. "What is he? A vain peacock?"

"If those potions work, we could make a lot of money with them," smiled Mother.

"Harry could make a lot of money," Sirius corrected her.

"Black!" snarled Father. "I never took one pence from Harry´s heritage. I´m not going to start taking his money now. But being a responsible parent I will make as much money FOR him as I can when the opportunity arises."

Harry quickly opened the fourth and last book before his father and godfather could start hexing each other. He gasped. "The Darkest of Magicks by Salazar Slytherin," he read out.

"By Salazar Slytherin?" echoed Father. He stepped to Harry to look at the book over the boy´s shoulder. "What is this?" Harry turned to face Father. Why did the man sound so puzzled?

The others moved closer to look at the book, too.

"I suppose this is what parseltongue looks like in writing," muttered Dumbledore.

"I wasn´t aware you actually could write in parsel," said Sirius.

Father smirked. "Are you trying to lead us to believe that you asked yourself that question ever? I for one, didn´t."

"It must be parsel as Harry can read it and we can´t," the headmaster interfered before Father and Sirius could have another go at each other. "This book may be an important find, but how to use it?"

"Is there a translation spell?" asked Mr. Lupin.

The adults discussed the question for a while, but it was Draco who found a solution. "Why don´t we have Harry read out the book aloud. We could write down the translation. Or he could use a dicta-quill."

After a short quarrel who was to be allowed to write down what Harry read, they settled on a dicta-quill. The headmaster had several in his office. Running a school required quite a lot of correspondence and being elderly (several of the others snorted when Dumbledore said that) the man estimated the comfort of not having to hold a quill.

Luckily the book wasn´t very thick, so there was a good chance Harry could read it out in one afternoon. The others sat on the sofas and armchairs in the headmaster´s office. Parchment and the dicta-quill rested on the coffee table, waiting for Harry to start and Harry sat in the spot of honour, Dumbledore´s favourite armchair by the fire.

Harry found it exhausting to read a parsel text in plain English. It took a lot of concentration not to speak snake-language.

The first pages of the book were boring. Slytherin had written a lengthy introduction about how magic was a means to seek and get power and how any wizard worthy to be called one should use it for exactly that. In Slytherin´s opinion, spells were not light or dark, but useful or useless. Only the most terrible ones deserved the name Dark Magic. Those were the spells, which didn´t help a wizard gain influence for his house, but worked against his family and its prosperity, too.

Harry looked at Father with a small smile when he read that. It was like hearing Father speak. The blond man smiled back proudly and silently raised his cup to Harry in a salute.

Then came the spells Slytherin considered dark.

There was an enslavement spell, which bound enemies as slaves to the caster, taking away their free will, but obliging the wizard to take care of them and thus taking away time from his family.

There were several spells to cause so much pain in an enemy that Cruciatus seemed harmless next to it. Those spells caused the caster to build an aura of terror, which scared his enemies at his mere sight, but unfortunately also made his family fear him.

Another spell made the enemy fall irrevocably in love with the caster and caused a deep desire to please the new subject of their affection. Gaining the love of another with magic was very despicable in Slytherin´s opinion because it belittled the affection of the family. The founder of Hogwarts´ most powerful house spent several pages explaining why those spells were against nature in general and wizardkind in particular.

The very last chapter of the book – they were nearly ready to give up – was about horcruxes. Slytherin described in detail how to make one and why the splitting of a soul was a selfish act against the family. And then he gave a spell how to find the parts of a soul and how to put it together to serve the family properly once again. It was, said Slytherin, any wife, son or daughter´s duty to find and repair the soul should they discover that their head of house had erred from the path of decency and love for the family.

"That´s exactly what we need!" cried Sirius. "We need to find all his horcruxes!"

The others agreed excitedly. The dicta quill scribbled frantically and then exploded. Dumbledore called the meeting to order before he gave Harry a new quill, erased the last two pages and asked the boy to start at the point where he had first mentioned the spell to find horcruxes.

Harry did as he was asked. Some of the others, especially Sirius, looked like they were ready to explode if they couldn´t tell what they thought immediately. At last it was done. Dumbledore put the dicta-quill back into its box, and that was where the excited discussions began.

It was easily agreed that they had to act quickly in order to find and destroy the horcruxes before the Dark Lord could rise again.

"There´s no time like now!" cried Sirius and for once Father fulheartedly agreed with him. But that was where their agreeing ended. Sirius thought they should use all the help they could get, but Father´d much rather have a small group of the most powerful wizards work on the problem and leave the rest of them out of it.

Sirius made an angry face when Dumbledore sided with Father and then insisted he was to be part of the group.

Dumbledore shook his head. "We´ll use the Goblet of Hogwarts. It´s a strong magical item. You´ll all swear an oath beforehand to accept the Goblet´s decision."

"How does it work?" asked Mr. Lupin.

The old wizard smiled and explained about a smaller version of the Goblet of Fire. "It was designed to find the most powerful and fearless wizards to complete tasks for the school. Up to the fifteenth century it was used to choose the headmaster as well."

"Why was that custom given up?" asked Mother. "Didn´t it work properly?"

"I will inform you, Madame, that it worked perfectly well!" cried a slim young wizard with a hooked nose from one of the portraits in the office. "The ministry claimed the Goblet´s magic had worn off when it chose me over the minister´s cousin!"

"And an idiot that cousin was!" a friendly blonde witch came to the wizard´s aid.

"Gladys, we all know you didn´t like him," Dumbledore said in a soothing voice.

The witch snorted. "Not like him? He cursed me when I turned my back because he wanted my job! I wasn´t ready to die!" The witch carded her fingers through her locks.

"Be it as it may," Dumbledore changed topic. "We will use the Goblet and you will accept its decision."

They all agreed, though some reluctantly, and the headmaster fetched the small silver goblet from one of the cabinets. Everybody wrote their names on small pieces of parchment and threw those into the bright pink flames of the Goblet.

Then Dumbledore asked the Goblet to work its magic – the Goblet was bound to only obey the current headmaster of the school – and the flames changed to green, red, blue and yellow in quick succession. "Ah!" cried the headmaster when the flames returned to bright pink.

It seemed the Goblet of Hogwarts had less sense for drama than the Goblet of Fire. Once the fire was pink again, it spit out four pieces of parchment just before the flames died down leaving only ashes of the other pieces of parchment.

Dumbledore reached for the first piece of parchment. "Severus," he read out.

The second said ´Lucius Malfoy´, the third ´Harry Potter´and the last one ´Albus Dumbledore´. Sirius was enraged, but could do nothing. He and Mr. Lupin were sent off, Mother and Draco returned home.

Once the four the Goblet had chosen were alone in the office, Dumbledore transfigured a lemon drop into a map of Britain. Uncle Severus chanted the spell that would tell them where to look for the horcruxes. According to Slytherin´s book, small signs were to appear on the map where the fragments of soul lay, but only for a short moment. Dumbledore, Father and Harry were supposed to memorise the positions of the horcruxes.

The adults paled when Uncle Severus had finished his spell. Nobody had expected there to be more than one or two more, but there were! Three lights lit up nearly in the same spot, at Hogwarts. One in Diagon Alley, one at Grimmauld Place and another in the middle of nowhere (or at least there was no big city nearby).

"Three at Hogwarts?" gasped Uncle Severus. "How are we going to find them?"

"Harry," said the headmaster. "Can you ask your snake for help?"

"I´m sure she would help, Sir," said Harry, "but it would take her ages to search the castle!"

"Can she bring other snakes in to help?" asked Father.

Harry didn´t know and asked Shamira. The small serpent listened intently and then nodded. "I can try to find other snakes to help me. I need to go to the forest."

It was late already. Harry and Father carried Shamira to the edge of the Forbidden Forest before they went home for the night. It was strange. Harry had carried the small snake around his wrist for so long, he felt naked without her.

Once they returned to Malfoy Manor, they had to give Mother and Draco a detailed account of what happened. Neither Mother nor Draco offered to help because they knew it would bring Sirius Black back wanting to participate, too, and that was a bad idea, seeing how Father and Sirius had to use all their willpower not to curse each other on the spot.

After a short night´s sleep – Harry and Draco slept both in Harry´s bed and they talked until the first light of dawn crept into the room – and a quick breakfast Harry and Father returned to Hogwarts. Dumbledore and Uncle Severus were already waiting for them in the headmaster´s office and without further ado the three men and Harry went down to the forest to meet Shamira.

Having had a pet snake for years, Harry certainly was not afraid of snakes. Nevertheless it took all his willpower not to turn on his heel and run. Shamira had gathered a medium army of snakes during the night. There must be hundreds, if not thousands of them.

"It was easy to get them to cooperate," Shamira explained on the way back to the castle. Her snake-force was slithering behind them and even Father and Uncle Severus, true Slytherins as they were, seemed uncomfortable with the sheer number there were. "It seems the Evil has taken quite a number of mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers from them. When they heard whom we wish to destroy, they were eager to help."

Harry translated and Dumbledore insisted he ask whether the snakes would leave the castle once the search was done. Shamira glared at the old wizard from her position around Harry´s wrist. "They are creatures of the wood! Of course they will leave the castle!" she cried. "I´d have done so myself years ago hadn´t it been for my Master!"

"Are you uncomfortable living with me?" Harry asked, concerned about the wellbeing of his beloved pet.

"You take good care of me," Shamira hissed and settled under Harry´s sleeve for the rest of the way.

Once in the castle the snakes swarmed out to search for the Dark Lord´s soul. Shamira had told them about the horcrux at the office, so none of them went to search up there. Harry and the men had tea there while they waited for the snakes to report back.

It was a plain brown specimen who came to fetch the wizards.

"There´s evil behind a wall!" she stated and slid out of the office without waiting whether the wizards would follow.

The four got up as one and hurried after the serpent. The snake – Mary, according to Shamira – led the way down the corridor and, indeed, stopped in front of a piece of wall.

The wizards looked at each other, puzzled. Shamira shuddered. "I feel it, too," she stated. "There´s a horcrux behind this wall."

The three Slytherins stood staring at the blank wall. The headmaster, unable to remain calm as a Gryffindor, paced the corridor, muttering under his breath. Harry wasn´t sure whether the man was swearing or trying to formulate a plan. There wasn´t enough time to think about it though, because suddenly a door appeared in the wall.

Father jumped to open it. Shamira led the way inside, because Mary had disappeared immediately to search other parts of the castle. With the snake´s help the group located a beautiful tiara.

"A bit girly, to hide your soul in a diamond crown, isn´t it?" Father sneered.

The others chuckled, but then Uncle Severus, who was carrying the tiara to the office, gasped. "It has Ravenclaw´s sign!"

"Well, that explains," said Dumbledore. "Tom was fascinated with the founders from a young age. If he found an object that belonged to one of them, it must have been one of his most prized possessions."

When they reached the office, an enraged snake waited for them. Shamira and the other snake conversed in urgent hisses, so quickly that Harry could barely follow.

"It seems the house elves are thinking of the snakes as a household pest. There have been several snakes killed down in the dungeons."

The headmaster took off at a speed nobody would have thought possible for a man his age. Harry and Father ran after him while Uncle Severus stayed behind with the tiara horcrux.

Once down in the dungeons, the headmaster ordered the elves to stop their fight against the snakes. When the smallish creatures heard that the snakes were the headmaster´s allies, they started to punish themselves for killing some of them. It seemed though that the headmaster was used to collective actions of guilt from the elves, because he immediately ordered a twelve course feast to be cooked for himself and his guests. The elves smiled happily and disappeared to the kitchens with loud cracks.

"Let´s go back upstairs," the old man sighed tiredly after Harry had reassured the remaining snakes that nobody was going to attack them again.

They had gone up one flight of stairs, when a huge green snake stook in Harry´s way. "Evil!" it hissed. "Evil!" Other snakes heard the call and soon Harry was surrounded by snakes claiming him to be evil.

Harry shivered with fear. What did that mean?

"I´m afraid they are right, Master," hissed Shamira. "There is a piece of Evil in you. It´s nearly completely covered with Good, but once you look for it, you can feel it."

"How come you never mentioned it before?" Harry asked the snake. Shamira had spent years wrapped around his arm!

"You were always kind to me. I let the Good blind me," admitted the small snake. She looked devastated as if she had failed Harry in not seeing the Evil before.

Harry swallowed hard and then told the headmaster and Father what the snakes had found.

"I can´t believe my son is a horcrux!" cried Father.

"I don´t think so many snakes are all making the same mistake, Lucius," the old wizard said kindly. "But rest assured, we´ll do everything we can to find a way to take out the piece of Dark without harming Harry!"

Subdued, the three wizards made their way to the office. The snakes, having located the last missing piece of soul within the castle, slithered towards the entrance to leave for the forest.

"What happened?" Uncle Severus got up from the armchair he had been sitting in.

Harry sat on the sofa. "Albus ordered a feast."

"And why do you three look like somebody´s going to die? I´m sure the snakes will find the missing horcrux soon. This search is going well!"

"They found it," muttered Father as he sat beside Harry.

"Great!" cried Uncle Severus. "What is it?"

Harry mumbled under his breath.

"I didn´t catch that." Uncle Severus looked puzzled.

"I am!" Harry cried. "Did you catch it now? I am the freaking horcrux! If we´re going to destroy Voldemort, we have to destroy me!" Harry´s voice had become louder and louder and the last was shouted on the top of his lungs. Once he had said (shouted) it, Harry slumped down like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

Father went to sit beside him. "Nobody will destroy you, Harry."

"But you have to," came Harry´s subdued voice from the heap on the sofa. "Or he will come back."

"Nonsense," said Father. "You are well protected. Nobody will be able to get you to retrieve the piece of soul from you. It´s caught within you forever. A powerful wizard such as yourself was a poor choice as a horcrux. What good is a horcrux you can´t lay hand on?"

Harry raised his head. "Are you sure?"

"Of course!"

Dumbledore and Uncle Severus nodded.

"First of all," said the headmaster, "we will make sure that you being a horcrux stays a secret. And then we´ll train you up, so that you will be able to defend the piece of soul within you against anybody who´d try to get it in order to resurrect him."

"This sounds like I´m going to be hunted for the rest of my life." Harry said softly.

"You won´t," said Father. "Nobody knows that you´re a horcrux and we´ll make sure it stays so. Now, what were the other locations of horcruxes?"

"There´s one at Grimmauld Place. With Sirius on our side it should be easy enough to find." Dumbledore smiled.


	19. Chapter 19

Father obviously disliked having to ask Harry´s godfather for help, but he swallowed his pride and followed the others through the floo to meet Sirius Black.

If Sirius resented not being part of the team, he didn´t show. He greeted them in a most friendly manner, ushered them to the kitchen and had Kreacher prepare tea and scones. The horcrux-hunters gladly accepted the proffered refreshments and Dumledore indulged Sirius eagerness to know about their hunt.

"The reason we´ve come here, Sirius," explained the old wizard at last, "is that we located one of the horcruxes in your very house. We need your permission to and help with searching the house."

"You have it!" cried Sirius. "You know that I will do anything to help Harry!"

The other wizards exchanged glances, but neither of them was ready to inform Black – or anybody else – about Harry being a horcrux himself.

"There´s not much you need to do really," said Father. "We need you to let Harry´s snake search the house. The horcrux is probably some little trinket or something, so if you can pinpoint a place where you think we might be successful in our search, it would be nice."

"Hm," said Sirius. "Mother kept all kinds of knick-knacks at the upper parlour. You may want to have a look at that room first."

The men finished their meal quickly before they all went upstairs. Harry knew the room Sirius was talking about. It held a tapestry with the Black family tree and several glass cabinets with dusty old stuff. During his stays at Grimmauld Place he had always avoided the place.

When they entered the room, Harry felt Shamira shudder. "So much Dark!" she whispered.

"Can you locate the soul among those things?" Harry asked.

"It would be easier if I hadn´t to," the snake pointed out.

Harry explained the problem to the others. Uncle Severus had the solution at hand. "Why doesn´t Harry sit somewhere nearby and we bring the items one by one?"

Sirius ushered them all into a small room which only contained a small table and some chairs. "My mother used to do her embroidery in here," he explained.

Harry allowed Shamira to settle down on the table and sat on the chair nearest to it. Father, Uncle Severus and Dumbledore followed Sirius back to the parlour. Uncle Severus returned a little later and laid a small silver dagger in front of Shamira. He sat on a chair beside Harry. "I´ll stay with you. Dumbledore was badly bitten by a snuff box. Lucius insists you are not left alone with these artefacts."

Harry nodded. "Shamira says the dagger is dark, but doesn´t hold a piece of soul."

Uncle Severus took the dagger off the table only to replace it with a small vial of a dark red liquid which Father handed him. While Shamira examined the vial, Uncle Severus conjured a box for the items they had already checked.

It took them all afternoon to identify the horcrux. It was a heavy silver locket with an ornate letter S on it.

"Does it mean what I think?" Father asked reverently.

Dumbledore nodded. "Slytherin´s locket was last mentioned about four hundred years ago. Then the line either died out or lost it´s influence. The only thing we know for sure is that the Slytherin name disappeared around that time. I assume that the line was continued via a daughter and the locket was handed down to her."

"Slytherin´s locket!" Father whispered. "What a crime to make it a horcrux!"

Harry and Uncle Severus, being Slytherins, agreed fulheartedly.

As it was late already, it was agreed that Dumbledore and Uncle Severus take the horcrux back to Hogwarts and Harry and Father return to the manor for the night. Sirius hugged Harry good-bye and wished them all luck for the rest of their hunt.

Mother and Draco were already waiting. As soon as Harry and Father stepped out of the fireplace, Mother ordered Dobby to serve dinner. It was good to be back home and enjoy decent meals again. The meat – lamb – was so soft, you could have eaten it without using a knife at all. The vegetables were young and fresh and thanks to Dobby´s abilities the spices aided their taste. In Harry´s opinion, even the potatoes were better than anything he had got during the past two years.

Mother smiled at the boy lovingly. "It´s good to see you haven´t lost your appetite." She added another slice of meat to Harry´s plate. "You have no idea how much I missed you!"

Harry beamed at the witch. It was good to feel loved and wanted. "I´m glad to be back, Mother."

While the boys indulged in dessert – mousse au chocolat – Father told Mother about their day. The witch asked some questions and she and Draco gasped in all the right places. They all had a good laugh at Father´s description of Dumbledore´s fight against the snuff box.

"The rest will be more difficult," Father sighed at the end of his tale. "There´s one at Diagon Alley and one in the middle of nowhere. I have no idea how to find a horcrux there."

"You´ll all do your best and in the end you will succeed," said Mother. "Anything else is not acceptable."

Father nodded. "Of course, dear." He pecked Mother on the cheek.

-x-

Dumbledore had been busy after the others had left. His desk was covered in parchment, maps and books.

"I think," the old wizard beamed, "I know where we have to look for another."

"Really?" Uncle Severus and Father stepped closer to the desk, Harry followed.

Dumbledore nodded and rummaged in the stack of parchment. "Here!" he cried triumphantly and fished one piece of parchment out of the whole mess on the desk. He ushered the group to the coffee table where a tray of tea and biscuits waited for them.

"The hint was that we got a sign near the graveyard Harry was taken two in the third task of the tournament. Tom Riddle senior´s grave was there. I investigated a little. It seems that the Riddle family originates from that little village and," Dumbledore shook the parchment he was still holding triumphantly, "there was only one wizarding family in the area in the past two hundred years. I think we should go and look at their old home."

"The family no longer lives there?" Father asked.

Dumbledore shook his head. "They disappeared about fifty years ago."

Uncle Severus put down the biscuit he was holding. "What are we waiting for? Let´s go!"

The others agreed and they all apparated – Harry side-along with Father – to the little village in question. Harry shuddered. There, a little down the road he could see the graveyard where the Dark Lord had attempted to torture him and Uncle Severus had risked his life rescuing him.

Dumbledore lead the way down a cobbled street lined with rows of bushes on either side. "I think it´s over there!" The old wizard looked left and right for muggles and when he spotted none pointed his wand at a bush. An entrance formed in the dense row. With an encouraging smile Dumbledore stepped through and the others followed.

Behind the bushes was a pasture with a big group of trees at its far end. Harry thought he spotted a hut or cottage between the trees. Dumbledore set out for the small wook with an air of determination.

"Be careful, Albus!" cried Uncle Severus. "If he hid one out in the open, it´s bound to be protected by some nasty curses!"

The headmaster didn´t reply, but slowed down so that the rest of the group could catch up with him.

What Harry had seen from afar turned out to be the ruin of a smallish house. Shamira hissed warningly as they approached it.

"Stay back, Harry," Father warned.

Harry knew better than try to argue. He waited a little way from the ruin while the three men went to have a closer look. The headmaster, being the oldest and most powerful of them, cast several spells. By the way the spell light flickered and changed colour Harry could tell that the old man was probing for and finding curses.

The three adults met to discuss matters after a little while. They parted with curt nods a little while later and went to stand on different sides of the ruin. Dumbledore cast the first spell. A tongue of fiery magic erupted from the ruin and hit the wizard square in the chest. Father and Uncle Severus didn´t hesitate and fired their own spells at the shield. Harry could see the shield flicker and then fail.

As soon as the Dark Lord´s spell had been ended, Uncle Severus went to help Dumbledore and Father entered the ruin. A little later the blond wizard motioned Harry closer. "It´s safe now. Ask your snake to look for the horcrux."

Harry translated Father´s request adding a ´please´. Shamira slithered away to go looking for the piece of soul. The headmaster had meanwhile recovered from the spell which had hit him, and he and Uncle Severus joined Father and Harry in the ruin.

Shamira returned only little later. "I found it, but it´s protected by more evil," she said. The small serpent led the way to what must have been a kitchen in the past. "It´s under the ashes, where the fire has been in the past." She curled in front of the fireplace. "There´s more evil to protect it."

Again Dumbledore stepped forward to try his luck with the curse protecting the horcrux. The three Slytherins didn´t argue. Sacrifice was a concept not very popular within Slytherin house.

The headmaster used several probing spells to determine what the protective curse was before he cast a spell to disarm the curse. There was a flash of light in the old fireplace. Dumbledore used some more probing spells before he declared it safe to remove the horcrux.

The curse hit as soon as the headmaster touched the horcrux. With a look of horror he watched his own hand starting to wither with considerable speed. Uncle Severus was the first to react. He cried a stasis spell.

"Thank you, Severus," sighed Dumbledore when the blackness on his hand didn´t continue to spread. He bent down to get the ring he had dropped when the curse had hit him. "Let´s return to Hogwarts."

Once they were back at the castle, the headmaster put the ring into the drawer he kept the other horcruxes in before he called for a the school nurse. Luckily Madame Pomfrey didn´t live far from Hogwarts.

Father took Harry home as they couldn´t continue their search before Dumbledore´s hand had been healed. Actually Harry was quite glad to return home early. That way he had time to spend with Draco.

The two boys went flying in the gardens. Harry enjoyed the races and games a lot. When they had been younger, flying had been one of their favourite pastimes and thanks to the Dark Lord, they hadn´t had a chance to indulge in it for years. Mother and Father sat under one of the trees for a while and watched their boys chase each other.

-x-

Late in the evening Uncle Severus firecalled to notify Father and Harry that the headmaster was too ill to continue their search the next day.

"I thought about it," said Father. "The last horcrux is in Diagon alley. A family on a shopping spree would be less suspicious that three men and Harry Potter. If you don´t object I will take Narcissa and the boys to Diagon Alley tomorrow. We can shop a bit and Harry´s snake can check some of the shops."

"That´s a good idea," admitted Uncle Severus. "But be careful! Albus was hit by a nasty curse. Hadn´t I be there to stop it from spreading, he would have died."

"If the horcrux was safe where it was for the past decades it can stay there a week longer. If we locate it, I won´t touch it with Narcissa and the boys being there. We´ll wait until you and Dumbledore can help."

"That´s wise," agreed Uncle Severus.

-x-

The next day dawned sunny and warm. The Malfoy family was up and about early because Mother had suggested that it would be easier to let Shamira search the shops with fewer people there.

Harry enjoyed the day immensely although they didn´t find the horcrux. He hadn´t been on a decent shopping spree for years. True, Sirius had been quite generous on occasion but nothing compared to what Mother and Father usually spent for their sons.

Mother took the boys to Madame Malkin´s and Gladrags first. She bought an entire new wardrobe for both, starting with underwear and only stopping with new cloaks and dress robes. They, of course, bought only the finest material. It felt great to have silk and cashmere on your skin again.

After several hours of clothes shopping, they went to the quidditch store, the magical menagerie and the apothecary´s. Instead of one big meal they had several small snacks in various bars and restaurants, but in every single one Shamira found no trace of the horcrux.

To Harry´s joy the family returned to the alley the next day to visit Olivander´s (Father claimed that the old man needed to check Harry´s wand after he had been away from home for such a long time) and the book store. Harry and Draco chose several spell books, an extra potions text and a quidditch book there, but again their horcrux search was to no success.

In the evening Uncle Severus came to the manor for dinner and to brief Father on Dumbledore´s condition. Madame Pomfrey insisted the old man rest for at least a week, but the headmaster wanted to continue the search rather earlier than later.

"We could come and tell what we did the past two days. That way Dumbledore would feel active without actually having to leave his bed," suggested Harry.

Uncle Severus and Father agreed to the plan and the two Malfoys returned to Hogwarts the next morning.

Dumbledore was awaiting them on the sofa in his office. A colourful blanket was wrapped around him and a steaming mug of herb infusion stood on a small side table by the sofa. Uncle Severus sat on an armchair on the other side of the side table, a map of Diagon Alley in front of him.

Father and Harry greeted the old wizard politely and then started a lengthy account of their recent activities. Uncle Severus crossed out the shops they had already searched.

The headmaster wanted to know everything. Whether Harry had taken Shamira to every last corner of every shop, whether they had checked the restrooms (Yes, they had. Mother had even carried Shamira into the ladies´ rooms although neither of them thought that the Dark Lord would choose a toilet to hide his soul.) and whether they had checked the store rooms. (Yes, Shamira had.)

At last the tale was finished and Uncle Severus had only little room on his map. Actually the only spots left were two restaurants in the Alley, the Leaky Cauldron and Gringott´s.

"I just hope it´s not in the bank!" sighed Father. "If it is, I have no idea how to find it, not to mention how to get it out of there."

"Let´s first find it," suggested Uncle Severus. "We can worry about bank robbery later."

Harry snorted.

"I suggest you take Harry out for meals to check the restaurants and the Cauldron first," suggested Dumbledore.

Father agreed. "You are aware that it will take three days to do that," he said. "I refuse to do something as common as going out for lunch if I don´t have to."

Dumbledore sighed. "I´d like it to be faster, but I´m hardly in a position to pressure you. Well, as I can´t change it, I´ll just have to wait."

Uncle Severus winked at Father.

-x-

Three days and dinners later it was clear. The horcrux had to be at Gringott´s.

"Do you think the snake can find the horcrux at Gringott´s?" asked Dumbledore. "They have lots of protective spells there to prevent theft. It´s not common magic as we use it. Like elf magic, goblin magic differs from what wizards do. Some of it may be considered dark." The old wizard smiled at Harry.

Harry conferred with Shamira. "She says she can´t tell without trying."

"I can take Harry and the snake to my vault," offered Father. "That way the snake can get a feel of the bank."

The entrance hall of the wizarding bank was covered in marble and gold. Dozens of goblins sat at the golden counters. Some of them wrote in old yellowish books, one used an abacus to sum up the wealth of an elderly wizard standing before it, others weighed heaps of huge gems. Father ignored them all. He walked straight to the central counter at the far end of the hall.

The goblin sitting there was ancient. He hinted a lopsided smile before he greeted Father. "Lord Malfoy."

"Gardshild," Father replied with equal earnest. "I wish to show my son, Mr. Harry Potter, one of the heirlooms in the family vault."

"Of course, Sir. Griphook!" the old goblin barked the order and a younger goblin stepped to the counter. At Father´s sight the younger goblin bowed and motioned them to follow him. He led the way through a marble door. Behind the noble entrance, the corridor was very different to the entrance hall. It was made of bare rock but for iron rails in the floor. A small cart waited for them and Father sat in it without waiting for the goblin´s invitation. Harry sat beside him and waited. He hadn´t been at the bank very often and he had never before been to the family vault.

The ride in the cart was exciting. It went so fast that Harry felt reminded of flying. Father seemed to enjoy himself, too. Once they had reached the vault, Griphook opened the door with a touch of his hand and a muttered spell. The goblin stepped back to let Father and Harry pass.

Harry couldn´t but gasp. The vault was full of golden galleons, heaps of diamonds, emeralds and rubies, precious paintings, strings of pearls and heavy trunks, which certainly contained more riches. Father took Harry to the back of the vault where the goblin couldn´t hear them. "And?" he asked.

Again Harry talked with Shamira and then translated. "The goblin magic feels very different from everything she knows. Shamira´s confident she can feel the soul if she´s near enough." Harry laughed. "She says it´s not in your vault nor in any of the ones nearby."

Father nodded mutely and then signalled young Griphook to take them back to the entrance hall.

-x-

"The snake says she can tell whether the horcurx is in a vault nearby. We need to get her around Gringott´s a bit." Father looked at Dumbledore and Uncle Severus challengingly. "I can take Harry to the Potter vault."

"I can take him to mine," said the headmaster, "and I´m sure Sirius will agree to take him to his. And now I think of it, we can ask Remus, too." The old man looked at Uncle Severus expectantly until the potions master nodded. Harry thought the man looked rather uncomfortable.

-x-

After Dumbledore´s (lots of ancient books and quite an amount of gold), Sirius´s (lots and lots of gold), Harry´s own (even more gold) and Mr. Lupin´s vault (nearly empty), they had only Uncle Severus´s left to check.

"I take it," sneered the goblin at the counter, "that you, too, wish to show Mr. Potter some heirlooms in your vault? Gringott´s is not a theme park. If you want to ride roller coaster I suggest you go to Disney Land."

Uncle Severus sneered back at the magical creature. "I was not aware that I´m not free to bring a guest to my vault. I must have misunderstood the contract. As far as I can tell I can throw a party down there should I feel like it."

"I have to apologize, Sir," growled the goblin. "For a moment I forgot my place. Let me take you down to your vault."

Uncle Severus´s vault held a surprisingly little amount of money. The potions master blushed at Harry´s gasp. "Teacher is not a very well paid job," he shrugged.

"You could make much more money with potions," Harry pointed out.

Uncle Severus nodded. "I was needed at Hogwarts."

Of course, the horcrux was not in Uncle Severus´s vault.

The horcrux hunters sat at the headmaster´s office and discussed their options over a cup of tea. Dumbledore suggested they asked their allies to take Harry to their respective vaults to search more of Gringott´s.

"I´m sure Minerva, Arthur and several others would gladly assist us." The old wizard smiled.

Father shook his head. "I´d rather not bring more people in. The more know about our quest the greater the danger that the wrong people hear about it. If they beat us to that horcrux, we´re doomed."

"To sum it up," sighed Dumbledore, "we´re fairly sure the missing horcrux is at Gringott´s. We took Harry and his snake to every place in there we legally could. Unless any of you has an idea how to rob the bank and search every single vault in the course, I don´t see what we could do but ask others to help."

Uncle Severus smiled slyly. "Not every single vault, Albus. We can assume that the horcrux is not in a vault that belongs to an enemy of the Dark Lord."

"Nor is it in his own vault," Harry pointed out. "He needs one of his allies to have access to it in order to reraise him."

"Good point!" cried Uncle Severus. "I bet it´s in a vault which belongs to a death eater."

"And searching all the deatheaters´ vaults is less of a problem?" snorted Dumbledore.

"Well," mused Father, "several of the deatheaters are still in Azkaban. We could try to get the ministry´s permission to search them."

"Not even Fudge is that stupid," Uncle Severus pointed out.

They sat in silence for a while. There had been a spark of hope for just a few minutes, but it was gone as quickly as it had lit up.

Father broke the silence. "Maybe Narcissa can get access to her sister´s vault."

As neither of the others had a better plan, it was agreed that Father ask mother to try.

-x-

It was surprisingly easy to get permission for Mother to enter her sister´s vault. Bellatrix Lestrange was childless and had named her – as far as she was concerned – only legal nephew, Draco Malfoy, her heir the very day he was born.

Narcissa Malfoy claimed at the ministry that it was her duty as a mother to make sure Draco´s inheritance was safe and didn´t lose value due to year-long neglect.

As she had claimed to look into the vault in Draco´s name, Draco accompanied her and Harry to Gringott´s. The blond boy was excited to be a part of the horcrux hunt even if only for some minutes. The goblin who was taking them down to the Lestrange vault was very disgruntled. He muttered something under his breath when he stood back to let the three Malfoys climb into the cart, but Harry didn´t catch more than some words.

"You were saying?" he asked the goblin with all the arrogance Father had taught him to use with cheeky inferiors.

"I said," growled the goblin, "I wish you a pleasant trip."

"I see," sneered Harry. "That´s very kind of you."

The Lestrange vault was full of gold, gems and magical items.

"I had no idea Aunt Bellatrix was that rich," Draco pointed out while Harry let Shamira have a look at everything.

"She didn´t need any money for more than ten years," Mother pointed out. "The interest alone is immense."

Harry was glad the goblin was distracted by Mother and Draco for Shamira hissed out excitedly when she spotted the horcrux in the very vault they were in. Quietly he walked over to Mother. "It´s here," he whispered. "That cup over there, says Shamira."

Mother nodded. She pulled a silk handkerchief from her pocket and transfigured it to an ornate wodden box. Ignoring the watching goblin, she levitated the cup into the box. The magical creature hissed angrily.

"You cannot take from a vault that is not yours!" it cried and a magical shield blocked the door.

Harry and Draco looked at each other fearfully. If the goblin decided to leave, they were caught and Merlin knew how long it would take Father to free them. They could starve to death in the meantime.

Mother gave the goblin a look she normally reserved for peacock droppings on the hem of her robes after a walk in the gardens. "It is my right to enter this vault. Therefore it is my right to take from it. Remove that barrier this instant."

"The ministry warrant you presented said nothing about taking!" the goblin said strictly without removing the shield.

Mother didn´t look disquietened by that fact. "I was not aware that Gringott´s offered sightseeing tours to the vaults. If I had been I´d have started a business selling tickets for the Malfoy vaults. We could have made lots of money with combined tickets, roller coaster plus guided vault tours."

"Gringott´s is not a theme park!" snarled the goblin.

"Not?" Mother glared down at the small creature. "You made it sound like it was."

The goblin snarled angrily before he lowered the shield. Mother led the way to the cart, motioning the boys to hurry. Harry and Draco obeyed happily.

Father waited for them in front of the building. Without waiting for a report, he ushered the family to the Leaky Cauldron from where they flooed to Hogwarts.

Uncle Severus and Dumbledore were waiting for them.

"Did you find any information?" asked the older wizard when the four Malfoys stepped out of the fireplace. His tired expression gave away how low his hope for a positive reply was.

"Better," grinned Mother in an enthusiastic and very undignified way. "We found the horcrux!" She put the box on the table and opened it carefully.

The headmaster took the small cup out of its container. "It has Hufflepuff´s sign," he cried.

"It fits," shrugged Uncle Severus. "You said he was obsessed with the founders. Now that we have them all, I suggest we – or rather I – brew our basilisk potion, which will destroy the horcruxes."

The others agreed. Father insisted that Mother and Draco return to the safety of the Manor. Now that the hunt was nearly over, both would have loved to stay and watch, but Father was against it and nothing they said changed his mind. He even threatened to use his authority as Head of House to send them home.

The brewing of the anti-horcrux potion was quite quick. Uncle Severus used a base of water, milk of goat and lemon juice which he boiled for only two minutes before he added a tiny drop of basilisk venom. The brew turned scarlet and a cloud of acid green smoke rose from the cauldron. The potions master banished the smoke with a spell. "It´s nearly as poisonous as the potion," he explained.

Then it was time to add the horcruxes. Harry was granted the honour of adding the first one, the thread of wool. The moment it touched the brew, the room was filled with a sound like a wounded animal crying in agony. It lasted for about a minute before the office went silent again.

Dumbledore destroyed the ring, Uncle Severus the tiara and Father the cup. Harry added the locket to the cauldron.

"That´s it," Uncle Severus sighed happily. "He can´t come back."

"He can," Harry corrected him. "He can as long as I live."

"He can´t," insisted Uncle Severus. "As long as you are underage you will be well protected and once you´re fully trained you´ll be a very powerful wizard. Even if anybody found out about the horcrux, nobody could claim the piece of soul from you."

"What would happen if I drank the potion?" Harry eyed the cauldron curiously.

"You would drop dead on the spot!" cried Uncle Severus.

Father gasped. "Harry, I forbid you to even think such a thing! Severus, I want you to destroy this potion as soon as possible and lock that basilisk venom away."

"But there must be a way to destroy the horcrux in me!" Harry insisted stubbornly.

"My boy," sighed the headmaster, "I searched for a way to accomplish that ever since the curse forced me to be less active in the quest. Not out of fear that you won´t be able to protect the fragment of soul but to take the burden from you. There´s no way. The only way to destroy a life horcrux is to kill it. I´m very sorry, my dear boy."

"Then we´ll have to stick with Uncle Severus plan and protect me as well as we can." Harry smiled weakly. The others agreed and Father and Harry returned home. Everything seemed well, but Harry couldn´t stop thinking how Father, Mother, Draco, Uncle Severus and all those other people would never truly be free as long as he, Harry, lived.

-x-

The rest of the holidays passed blissfully. It was all games and play and party. Mother and Father were glad to have their boys back and safe and made good use of the opportunity to spoil them rotten. Mother took them on several shopping sprees, Father used every weekend for a luxury trip some place he thought every young wizard of breeding should have seen: the pyramids, the old wizarding school of Knossos, a hidden spa in the Norvegian mountains where only the richest of wizards were welcome.

The wizarding world in general was in a good mood. The Daily Prophet, normally out for scandal, had happy cover stories for 17 days in a row!

The best thing about defeating the Dark Lord was that Harry and Draco were going to be allowed back to Slytherin on September, 1st. Both boys were looking forward to joining their old friends again.

It was two days before school started that Harry and Draco were chasing each other on their broomsticks. They sped between bushes and trees, changing course only split seconds before one of them crashed into a trunk, they sped skywards and dove to the ground at top speed. Once the chaser had reached his goal, he became the chased without a break. The game moved to and fro and both boys´ faces were rosy with excitement.

Harry called the game off after a while.

"Admit that I´m better than you!" teased Draco. "You´re fleeing!"

Harry laughed. "I´ll show you who is better when I´m back from the bathroom." He leaned his broomstick against one of the stone benches Mother loved to sit on and watch them fly. Throwing his head back in laughter he waved at Draco and ran up to the house.

Harry was surprised to hear Uncle Severus´s voice when he entered the house. It was not like the potions master not to come and greet the boys when he visited.

"Everything is prepared," he heared Uncle Severus say. "Albus asked Kingsley Shacklebolt to teach Defence this year. He´s in the Order and Albus trusts him completely. Black and Lupin will help, too."

"It´s a good thing you´re his head of house. That way you can keep an eye on Harry," replied Father, sounding worried.

"I still think it would be safer to home-school Harry," said Mother.

Father laughed, but it was not a happy laugh. "Do you really think Harry would like that? And Draco? I don´t think so."

"You´re right, of course, beloved." Mother sighed. "Nevertheless I wish we could keep him here."

"He will be well protected, Narcissa," said Uncle Severus.

"But you said he´s in danger!"

"Indeed, but not because he´s a horcrux. There are signs though that several deatheaters are out for revenge."

"I´m scared."

"Narcissa, dearest," Father said softly, "Harry will be safe. All those witches and wizards who are there to protect him are ready to die in his defence."

Harry had heard enough. He was not safe. Not really. And his family and friends weren´t either. As long as he, Harry, was around, nobody was safe.

Draco was sitting on the bench, waiting for Harry. "That was quick," he grinned.

Harry nodded. "Ready for another round?"

Both boys got on their brooms and kicked off. It was Harry´s turn to be chased. He spiralled up in the air, higher than ever before. When he thought he was high enough, he hesitated and looked down on Draco. For a moment he felt sad. Draco would be devastated, but he would recover and then be truly free.

It had to be done.

Harry forced his broom into a dive. Only this time he didn´t pull out of it. The last thing he heard was Draco´s scream of terror before the world went black.

-x-

When Harry came to, he was to his utter surprise at King´s Cross station. Then he realized that it could not really be the station, the place only looked like it. Other than King´s Cross though, it was empty and quiet but for Harry and a wailing, extremely ugly baby.

Harry looked around. Where was the child´s mother?

"I´ll go looking for your mummy," he said to the screaming infant and set out to do exactly that. He had only walked some steps, when he heard someone call out to him.

"Harry!"

Harry turned and came face to face with a man with unruly black hair. It took him a moment to realise that the man looked like he would had he been to live long enough to reach adulthood.

"Dad?"

The man smiled and nodded.

"What are you doing here?"

"I´ve come to show your soul the way." James Potter smiled sadly. "It was not your time to die. Why did you do that?"

"I´m Voldemort´s horcrux," Harry explained sadly. "As long as I live, he will not be truly dead. Nobody I love will be safe."

"I´m glad there are people you love. We were so scared for you!" James Potter wrapped an arm around Harry and led him back to wailing child. "Who is it you love? Sirius, I assume."

Harry swallowed hard. Of course his biological father expected him to have grown up at his godfather´s. "He´s one of them, but most of all my family. Mother, Father and my brother."

"If you didn´t stay with Sirius, who took you in?" James Potter asked worriedly.

Harry smiled. "The Malfoys." When he saw his father´s look of disgust, he added "They were the best parents I could wish for. I never wanted for anything."

"They treated you well?"

"They love me."

James Potter looked down at the crying baby thoughtfully. "Your mother would be thrilled to see you again," he said, "but I guess she´ll have to wait. I´m supposed to bring one soul back, but now I find two. – I´ll take this one and you can return to your family, if you want to."

Harry beamed at the man. "I´d love to! And if you take Voldemort´s soul with you, they´ll all be safe!" Following an impulse he fell on the man´s neck. James Potter wrapped his arms around his son and patted his back.

-x-

When Harry came to the next time, he was on a sofa at the Malfoy library.

"Thanks Merlin! He´s awake!" he heard Mother cry.

Harry blinked. Mother´s tearful face came into focus.

"Move aside," Uncle Severus´s cool voice ordered.

Mother´s face was replaced by the potions master´s. The man waved his wand and uttered first a series of diagnostic and then healing spells. A little later, a vial was held to Harry´s lips.

"You gave us quite a scare," said Uncle Severus as he helped Harry sit up. "You could have died!"

"I nearly did," Harry looked at Father, who was standing by the fireplace, paler than usual. "I saw my Dad."

Father, Mother, Draco and Uncle Severus listened to Harry´s tale without interrupting. Only when he had finished, Draco asked excitedly: "So he´s truly gone? The last horcrux is destroyed?"

Harry nodded happily. "Dad took the piece of soul with him. I´m no longer a horcrux. All we have to deal with now is deatheaters out for revenge, but we can cope with that, can´t we?"

"We can and we will," Father smiled happily.

Harry smiled back. They would.

The End.


End file.
